A new, large-scale initiative called "AI Factory Austria" (AI:AT) will have a lasting positive impact on the Austrian artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. As officially announced on 12 March 2025, funding has been secured through the EU's European High Performance Computing (EuroHPC) Joint Undertaking Programme. AI:AT is thus making a significant contribution to the European initiatives aimed at increasing Europe's competitiveness and innovative capacity in the field of AI.
The project consortium, consisting of Advanced Computing Austria (ACA), the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and a strong network of academic and industrial partners, will create a state-of-the-art computing infrastructure for the AI Factory and basic structures for a comprehensive AI hub that extends beyond the Factory. This integrated approach promotes innovation, strengthens AI expertise and supports both Austrian and European competitiveness in the global technology landscape.
"With the joint development of an AI-optimised supercomputer and an AI Factory Hub, we are creating the basis for powerful, trustworthy AI applications throughout Austria. As a network node, the AI Factory Austria will ensure that all relevant players - from research to business - work together efficiently and thus strengthen Austria as a centre of innovation in the long term," says AIT Scientific Director Andreas Kugi.
Expansion of the existing infrastructure
Building on the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC), a new AI-optimised supercomputer will be acquired, which will be available to researchers, start-ups, companies and public administration. This will allow complex AI models to be efficiently trained and transferred to various fields of application.
"AI:AT enables us to greatly expand the support services from existing projects such as EuroCC and make them available to an even larger customer base," adds ACA project manager Markus Stöhr. "On the one hand, this is done by providing software solutions for AI use cases and by directly supporting customer projects. The significant increase in computing capacity also enables the training of larger AI models, which was not possible on our previous infrastructure."
"The establishment of the AI Factory is an important milestone on the way to a high-performance AI ecosystem in Austria as a centre of innovation. With this project, we are placing a major visible building block on the AI map of the Republic. As the core of a future AI hub, it will become a centre of attraction and meeting place for the best minds and attract the most innovative companies with high-end supercomputers and comprehensive services. With this focus on commercial use and exploitation, we want to drive forward digitalisation, improve the competitiveness of companies and make the key technology of AI available to as many start-ups as possible as a door opener for markets and new solutions," says Peter Hanke, the Federal Minister responsible for Innovation.
AI Factory Hub and services
In addition to the hardware upgrade, a physical AI Factory Hub will also be set up as a one-stop shop, coworking space and community centre, offering services in the following areas with around 60 planned employees:
- Community support and ecosystem development/expansion: central meeting point for project teams, consultants and partners.
- Operational support: Low-threshold access to the AI infrastructure from initial pilot projects through to productive workloads.
- Innovation support: Accelerated product development through proof-of-concept support and consulting.
- Training and capacity building: Comprehensive training offerings ranging from beginner courses to specialised masterclasses.
Use cases and impact
AI:AT promotes cross-sector projects in areas such as biotechnology, sustainability, energy and production efficiency. A central "one-stop shop" enables SMEs and start-ups in particular to benefit from supercomputing resources and expert support. At the same time, clear guidelines and secure data environments ensure trustworthy and ethical AI development.
Looking to the future
With funding from the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, AI:AT is building a comprehensive AI ecosystem that advances research, companies and public institutions alike. The combination of state-of-the-art computing infrastructure and targeted support services will further consolidate Austria's international position as a centre of technology and innovation.AI:AT creates unique synergies with other lighthouse projects in the field of basic research on artificial intelligence. Worth mentioning here are the planned AI Centre of the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology, the Institute for AI in Biomedicine ("AITHYRA") founded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Boehringer Ingelheim, as well as the "Bilateral AI" cluster of excellence funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
AI:AT consortium The AI Factory Austria (AI:AT) consortium is led by Advanced Computing Austria GmbH (ACA) and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. Other partners are TU Wien, University of Vienna, BOKU University, University of Innsbruck, TU Graz, JKU Linz, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the high-tech incubator INiTS and the EODC Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH.
Links:
EuroCC Austria: https://eurocc-austria.at/news/ai-factory-austria
EuroHPC press release: https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/eurohpc-ju-selects-additional-ai-factories-strengthen-europes-ai-leadership-2025-03-12_en
AIT AI Taskforce: https://www.ait.ac.at/ai-taskforce