Bulgaria will host one of the six new artificial intelligence factories of the European Union. Our country is approved for a €90 million project among some of the most developed countries, achieved through the joint work and results achieved between Sofia Tech Park and the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT).
Today, the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) announced the list of countries that will develop the key infrastructure for the EU. Bulgaria ranks alongside Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
The factories in France and Germany are planned to work together with Europe’s first exascale supercomputers, which are currently being built in both countries. Organisations in Bulgaria, Austria, Poland and Slovenia will build infrastructures with specialised systems optimised for artificial intelligence, further expanding Europe’s high-tech infrastructure.
The Bulgarian factory BRAIN++ will be located in Sofia Tech Park and will begin construction in 2026. It will consist of two key components that will work in synergy: a new generation Discoverer++ supercomputer optimized with artificial intelligence systems and a center that will offer services to governmental, educational and private organizations and companies.
The INSAIT team will contribute to building generative models for earth observation, robotics, large language models, etc., which will position Bulgaria as a leader in Europe in the field of artificial intelligence.
BRAIN++ aims to further build on INSAIT’s results in positioning Bulgaria as a regional leader in artificial intelligence innovation by fostering talent development, supporting startups, small and medium-sized enterprises and researchers, and driving progress in key sectors such as robotics, industry, aerospace, healthcare, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, disaster management, logistics and urban planning, work with Bulgarian language application models, etc.
As part of EuroHPC’s network of artificial intelligence factories, BRAIN++ will contribute to the development of a stable European innovation ecosystem for AI research, development and applications, promote ethical and responsible practices in technology implementation, foster collaboration between academia, industry and public institutions. The BRAIN++ project is part of the European Union’s strategy to strengthen innovation in AI and is in line with the National Strategy for AI Development in Bulgaria and the Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation.
The Bulgarian center will have a budget of 90 million euros, the funds will be invested in the construction of a new advanced supercomputer for artificial intelligence Discoverer++ and the creation of the factory. The government has supported the winning Bulgarian project with a commitment to provide 50% national funding from 2026. The team of the existing Bulgarian Discoverer+ supercomputer will contribute their expertise in managing the high-performance computing systems of the new machine. Discoverer++ will feature AI-powered generative workload systems, dedicated partitions for robotics, satellite space surveillance and fast-moving goods applications, advanced and optimized storage modules with over 7.5 PB capacity and high-speed interconnections enabling processing and training of huge AI models. BRAIN++ includes the creation of a workspace offering a cloud-based environment for SMEs, access to high-quality datasets, and the organization of training programs to develop a skilled expert community in AI in Bulgaria.
The approved six new projects, supported by EuroHPC JU, will be part of Europe’s network of artificial intelligence centers, which already includes seven existing factories. Each will work to develop innovative research in this technology area from across Europe, offering start-ups, SMEs, and researchers access to AI-optimised high-performance computing resources, services, training, technical and specialist expertise.
More information about the Petascale Supercomputer Discoverer –
https://discoverer.bg/
https://sofiatech.bg/petaskeyl-superkompyutar/
More about the new six AI factories and EuroHPC JU –
https://eurohpc-ju.europa.eu/eurohpc-ju-selects-additional-ai-factories-strengthen-europes-ai-leadership-2025-03-12_en
