EU's first AI project spans 19 countries

The European Commission welcomed an AI Important Project of Common European Interest designed by 19 EU member states, coordinated by Germany, to build decentralised AI services across compute, models, applications, and industrial products. The Commission’s announcement says 11 countries will start pre-notifying state-aid projects in September, so this is a coordinated proposal—not approved funding or a finished procurement program. Builders tracking Cohere and Aleph Alpha’s transatlantic sovereignty bet should file it as a demand signal: Europe’s next AI moat may be shared infrastructure and services, but project eligibility and capital commitments still have to clear Brussels.