The ceremonial inauguration of the Gaia AI Factory project took place in the historic interiors of the Cloth Hall (Sukiennice). As one of the largest investments in artificial intelligence development in Poland and a key element in building the European AI ecosystem, the project is implemented by the Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet AGH along with partner institutions under the EuroHPC JU initiative. It holds strategic importance for strengthening Europe's digital sovereignty and competitiveness.
Gaia AI Factory is a modern technological infrastructure and an ecosystem for collaboration between science, administration, and business. At its heart will be an AI supercomputer located in Krakow and managed by the Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet AGH. The event was attended by representatives of government and local administration, the scientific community, European institutions, and partners of the consortium implementing the project. The inauguration had a symbolic dimension; the official launch of the project opened a new chapter in the development of artificial intelligence in Poland.
Poland on the European AI Map
Gaia AI Factory is an investment worth approximately 70 million euros (nearly 300 million PLN), co-financed by Poland and the European Union. The work of the Gaia AI Factory consortium, led by ACK Cyfronet AGH, is carried out with coordinated support from several key ministries: the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Digitalization, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Development and Technology. The Polish financial contribution to the project comes from funds provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Digitalization. The project fits into the construction of the European network of AI factories and aims to provide access to advanced computing resources and AI tools to a wide range of users, from scientists and startups to public administration and industry.
Gaia AI Factory is not just another supercomputer, but above all, the foundation of a new artificial intelligence ecosystem in Poland. We are combining infrastructure, data, and competencies to enable innovation development on a European scale.
emphasized Marek Magryś, Director of ACK Cyfronet AGH.Thanks to this investment, Polish scientists and entrepreneurs will gain access to tools that until recently were available only to the largest global technology players.
Future Technologies Available in Poland
The new Gaia supercomputer will be equipped with over a thousand GPU accelerators and will significantly surpass the capabilities of current computing systems in Poland. The infrastructure will enable the training of advanced AI models and their practical application in areas such as healthcare, public administration, education, environmental protection, and the space sector. The project stands out not only for its technological scale but also for its collaboration model. A nationwide consortium of leading scientific and technological institutions is involved in its implementation.
The Rector of the AGH University of Krakow, Prof. Jerzy Lis, drew attention to the role of the university in technological transformation:This is a special moment for the AGH University of Krakow, for the Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet AGH, but also for the entire Polish scientific and innovative community. The decision by the European Joint Undertaking for High Performance Computing (EuroHPC JU) to entrust the implementation of Gaia AI Factory precisely to Krakow and the consortium led by ACK Cyfronet AGH is an expression of trust in the competencies, experience, and potential of our research and infrastructural teams.
Impetus for the Economy and Innovation
The inauguration of Gaia AI Factory demonstrated the potential of synergy between science, administration, and business. As event participants emphasized, this investment can significantly accelerate the development of innovative services and products based on artificial intelligence, as well as increase the competitiveness of Polish companies in the European and global markets. Gaia AI Factory is set to become not only a technology center but also a space for collaboration and knowledge exchange, a foundation for the modern digital economy in Poland and an important element of the European artificial intelligence development system.
Marek Kasztelnik, Gaia AI Factory Project Manager, emphasized its strategic dimension:We are building not just infrastructure, but a complete ecosystem, from computing power, through data access, to implementation support and talent development. This is a project that will truly translate into economic innovativeness. Gaia AI Factory aims to become a collaboration hub for the entire region and one of the pillars of trusted European artificial intelligence.
Project partners include: Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet and the Faculty of Space Technologies of the AGH University of Krakow, Wrocław Network and Supercomputing Centre of Wrocław University of Technology, TASK Computing Centre of Gdańsk University of Technology, Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling of the University of Warsaw, National Centre for Nuclear Research, Academic Computer Network NASK PIB, Information Processing Centre OPI PIB, Sano – Centre for Computational Personalized Medicine – International Research Foundation, Małopolska Centre of Biotechnology of the Jagiellonian University, The Mother and Child Institute, and Krakow Technology Park.
More information about Gaia AI Factory can be found here: https://gaia.plgrid.pl/.
You are invited to watch the video recorded during the event:
and a photo gallery (Photo: Michał Łepecki):
