The European Commission, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the AI-BOOST project announce the launch of the Frontier AI Grand Challenge, a major EU-wide initiative designed to bridge the strategic gap in high-end AI development. By providing massive computational power and support, the challenge aims to foster the creation of sovereign, general-purpose European AI models that can outperform current global state-of-the-art systems.
The challenge seeks to select one winning proposal to train a “frontier” model – a system capable of adapting across multiple domains with minimal modification – leveraging Europe’s world-class high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure.
To ensure European competitiveness, the model must meet elite technical benchmarks:
- Scale: Minimum of 400 billion parameters.
- Architecture:Modular designs, such as Mixture-of-Experts (MoE).
- Compliance: Full alignment with the EU AI Act and Open Science principles (including open weights and architecture).
Participation is open to EU-established and EU-controlled industrial players. Consortia may include academic partners, but a private-sector entity must lead the project. Applicants must demonstrate a history of developing models with 100Bn+ parameters and expertise in all official EU languages.
The sole winner will receive:
- Strategic access: A grant of up to 2.5% of total EuroHPC computing resources for one year.
- Infrastructure: Access to Europe’s exascale supercomputers and specialised AI Factory services.
Key dates for the challenge:
- Challenge launch: 13 February 2026.
- Submission deadline: 13 April 2026, 17:00 CET (Brussel’s time).
- Results published: May 2026.
How to apply?
Eligible entities must read the Guide for Applicants and submit the proposals via the F6S platform.
For more information, consult the AI-BOOST project website.