RO AI Factory project started its implementation

Romania takes another major step in the development of artificial intelligence, as the RO AI Factory project officially began implementation yesterday. Hosted by ICI Bucharest, the project is expected to become operational by the end of 2027.

“The official launch of the RO AI Factory project comes after a period during which we have already begun building a community of organizations interested in the development and use of artificial intelligence around this initiative. We want RO AI Factory to become a meeting point for research, academia, companies and the public sector and, above all, a framework in which infrastructure, expertise and collaboration lead to concrete projects and solutions,” said Adrian-Victor Vevera, Director General of the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest.

According to a statement issued by the institute on Tuesday and transmitted by AGERPRES, the implementation of the “Romanian EuroHPC AI Factory at ICI Bucharest” – RO AI Factory project is funded by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) through the Horizon-Ju-Eurohpc-2025-AI call.

Through this project, Romania will have its own infrastructure for the development, training, testing and validation of artificial intelligence models and applications, available to the research community, the business sector and public institutions.

According to the same source, ICI Bucharest plays a key role in implementing the initiative, serving as the Hosting Entity for RO AI Factory.

“ICI Bucharest will host the high-performance computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence and provide the technical and operational support required for its installation, integration and operation. The implementation and development of the RO AI Factory service portfolio will be carried out in close collaboration with the project’s co-coordinator, the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, and the other consortium members, leveraging the partners’ complementary expertise to deliver advanced artificial intelligence services,” the statement said.

The Hosting Entity status strengthens ICI Bucharest’s position within the European EuroHPC ecosystem, highlighting the institute’s role in promoting advanced digital infrastructures.

With the launch of the project, Romania is entering a new stage in the development of advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure, connecting national research, innovation and technology-transfer capabilities to the European EuroHPC ecosystem, ICI Bucharest representatives said in the statement.

RO AI Factory will provide high-performance computing infrastructure, alongside an integrated ecosystem of AI resources, services, expertise and skills designed to support research, innovation and large-scale AI adoption.

The project envisages the development of an extensive portfolio of services, including access to HPC resources, support for the development and training of AI models, data infrastructures and services, algorithm libraries, and tools dedicated to the development of responsible and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

According to ICI Bucharest, one of the central objectives of RO AI Factory is to democratize access to advanced artificial intelligence and supercomputing resources. The services developed will target a broad community of users, ranging from universities and research organizations to start-ups, SMEs, technology companies, industry and public institutions.

“Particular attention will be given to start-ups and SMEs, with RO AI Factory aiming to support their transition from simply being users of technology to becoming active developers and innovators in the field of AI. Access to infrastructure will be complemented by technical expertise, training programs, mentoring, and support for the development, testing and validation of new AI-based products and services,” the institute’s representatives said.

Through this approach, the project aims to reduce the technological and skills-related barriers that currently limit access to high-capacity AI infrastructure and to create favorable conditions for transforming research results into solutions with economic and societal applications.

Alongside ICI Bucharest and the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, the RO AI Factory consortium brings together the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN), the National Institute for Research and Development for Biological Sciences (INCDSB), Transilvania IT Association (ATIT), the “Mihai Drăgănescu” Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research (ICIA), the National Council of Private Small and Medium Enterprises in Romania (CNIPMMR), and the Romanian Digital Innovation Hubs Association (RoDIH).

The complementary expertise of the partners enables the connection of HPC and AI infrastructure with academic and research expertise, skills development, application development, and direct engagement with start-ups, SMEs and regional innovation ecosystems.

RO AI Factory will operate as part of the European network of AI Factories being developed under the coordination of EuroHPC JU, contributing to the European Union’s objective of building a competitive, secure and sustainable ecosystem for the development of artificial intelligence.

Integration into this network will also allow Romania to participate directly in the European exchange of resources, data, expertise and best practices, while creating new opportunities for cross-border collaboration among researchers, universities, companies and public administrations.

According to the infrastructure implementation timeline, the initial stages will focus on preparing the hosting facilities and installing the hardware systems, followed by the integration of services and connection to national and European infrastructures.

The RO AI Factory is expected to become operational by the end of 2027, with its services and ecosystem to be developed and expanded progressively.