en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Portuguese government plans to invest up to €200 million over the next seven years to build an artificial intelligence superfactory, provided the European Commission approves its joint application with Spain. This national funding will be specifically used to secure computing time at the infrastructure located on Portuguese territory, a condition already stipulated in a recently published Council of Ministers resolution.
According to the plan, the investment will be executed between 2027 and 2033, starting with €5 million in 2027 and increasing to €32.5 million annually from 2028 to 2033. The resolution states that if the joint Portuguese-Spanish project wins the upcoming EU tender, this investment amount "will match the European contribution." Unused funds each year can be carried over to 2034, providing flexibility for the project to proceed as planned.
The Agency for State Technological Reform (Agência para a Reforma Tecnológica do Estado, ARTE) has been authorized to submit a declaration of intent to acquire computing time for the infrastructure. The decree also stipulates that the aforementioned expenditure "can under no circumstances be used for anything other than computing time at infrastructure located on Portuguese territory and receiving European funding," directly linking financial support to the acquisition of computing hours.
Portugal is jointly preparing the application with Spain, with the main site for the superfactory on the Portuguese side being Sines, while a plan to build redundant infrastructure at a second location is still under evaluation, with candidate cities including Abrantes or Lisbon. On the Spanish side, the main site is Tarragona, with Madrid as the redundant location.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for State Reform Gonçalo Matias announced the €200 million investment plan after the government's weekly meeting on June 25. He stated that the investment is part of a joint Portuguese-Spanish application for EU co-financing of five large-scale AI infrastructures. Matias explained that the goal is to provide computing power for the development of AI applications in public administration, while enhancing sovereignty over sensitive data processing and reducing reliance on private operators. The infrastructure will also provide computing capacity to small and medium-sized enterprises and other entities involved in the project, strengthening the national AI ecosystem.
