AI compute evaluation and deployment platform for EU infrastructure
EU call for AI compute evaluation and deployment platform to boost European AI chip sovereignty and market.
This call seeks proposals to create a common EU platform for evaluating AI chips and racks. It aims to pilot European AI compute systems and foster collaboration between buyers and suppliers. The goal is to strengthen EU technological sovereignty and market demand for European AI compute solutions.
Likely relevant for
- AI hardware developers
- European AI infrastructure providers
- Technology procurement agencies
- European datacenter operators
- AI chip manufacturers
Project signals
What it funds
- Development of a common EU evaluation platform for AI chips and racks
- Pilot deployment of European AI compute systems with EU sovereign partitions
- Collaboration frameworks between buyers and suppliers for AI compute solutions
- Support for deployment, integration, and optimization of European AI compute systems
Expected outcomes
- Transparent KPIs, workloads, and benchmark reports for Chips JU procurement decisions
- Validated European AI compute systems deployed in EU datacenters
- Structured buyer-supplier collaboration supporting AI compute deployment
- Increased EU demand and market for European AI chips and racks
- Enhanced EU technological sovereignty across the AI compute stack
Who can apply / participate
- Legal entities established in eligible EU Member States and associated countries as per Chips JU rules
- Check specific consortium and partnership requirements in call documents
- Eligibility limited to countries listed in Chips JU Work Programme Appendix 8
- Refer to call documents for admissibility, financial capacity, and exclusion criteria
- Exact eligible countries and consortium size must be verified in official call documents
Must check before shortlisting
- Specific eligibility criteria in call documents
- Consortium composition and country eligibility
- Budget and funding conditions
Money
Total budget up to €70 million for 2026 with expected single grant award.
- Maximum EU contribution — 70000000EURSingle-stage grant for AI compute evaluation and deployment platform
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model with proposal page limits and layout detailed in call documents.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per Part B of Application Form
- Ownership Control Declaration form template
- National Budgets Table template
- Guide for applicants
- Template of Application Form and Evaluation Form
- Chips JU Multiannual Work Programme
- Rules for legal entity validation and financial capacity
- Annotated Model Grant Agreement
- EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
- Funding & Tenders Portal manuals and terms
- Prepare proposal according to call documents and templates
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline
- Contact calls@chips-ju.europa.eu for support
- Use IT Helpdesk for technical submission issues
- Check all eligibility and admissibility conditions carefully
- Follow evaluation and award criteria as per call documents
- Review legal and financial set-up requirements
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:10 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Expected Outcome: The expected outcomes of this topic are : A common EU evaluation platform for AI chips and racks, with transparent KPIs, workloads and benchmark reports used for Chips JU selection and procurement decisions. First pilot deployments of European AI compute systems validated for EU sovereign partitions of AI infrastructure. Structured collaboration between buyers and suppliers, supporting deployment, integration and optimisation of European AI compute solutions. Stronger EU demand for European AI chips and racks, helping to create a market for deployment-ready solutions. Increased EU technological sovereignty across the AI compute stack for European datacentres.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
Proposal page limits and layout: detailed in Part B of the Application Form, which you can access from the Call documents section on the Chips JU website's Call page
The following information are all described in the Appendix 8 of the Chips JU Workprogramme
2. Eligible countries
3. Other eligibility conditions
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Please refer to the call documents section on the Chips JU website's Call page to view and download all required documents and templates.
Specific Call Documents
Ownership Control Declaration form template
National Budgets Table template (xls)
Guide for applicants - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GfP
Template of Application Form - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GfP
Template of Evaluation Form - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GfP
General Call Documents
Chips JU Multiannual Work Programme
Decision on the evaluation and selection procedures related to calls launched by the Chips JU
Annotated Model Grant Agreement for EU Funding Programmes 2021-2027
Appendix 8 of Work Programme - Chips for Europe Initiative
Call document and annexes:
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Additional documents:
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact calls@chips-ju.europa.eu Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
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