The European Commission has unveiled two major plans aimed at speeding up the adoption of artificial intelligence in key industries and the public sector. Under the "Apply AI" and "AI in Science" strategies, about 1 billion euros in funding will be directed toward building an "AI first" approach across Europe.
The Apply AI Strategy focuses on integrating AI into strategic sectors and government operations, while the AI in Science Strategy aims to secure Europe’s leadership in AI-driven research. Both are part of the Commission’s AI Continent Action Plan.
Apply AI: Sector programs and innovation hubs
Apply AI targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, defense, media, and mobility. The Commission plans to mobilize roughly 1 billion euros to fund pilot programs and AI infrastructure.
The measures include setting up AI-powered screening centers in healthcare to improve early diagnostics, launching an AI drug discovery challenge for new therapies, and supporting frontier AI models tailored to manufacturing. To help SMEs adopt AI, the European Digital Innovation Hubs will be turned into Experience Centres for AI, offering direct access to EU innovation networks.
RAISE and the Frontier AI Initiative
The AI in Science strategy positions the EU as a central hub for AI-driven research. Its core project, RAISE (Resource for AI Science in Europe), serves as a virtual institute that pools AI infrastructure for scientific use. The Commission plans to double annual AI funding under Horizon Europe to more than 3 billion euros.
About 600 million euros will go toward giving researchers and startups access to large-scale computing power, including new AI "gigafactories." The Frontier AI Initiative will bring together European leaders from science and industry to accelerate development in advanced AI and launch continent-wide competitions for open frontier models.
New governance and support structures
To coordinate efforts, the current AI Alliance will be restructured into the Apply AI Alliance, a forum connecting major stakeholders. A new AI Observatory will track AI trends and their impact across sectors.
The Commission has also created the AI Act Service Desk, a centralized helpdesk to support organizations in applying the AI Act. By the end of October, a Data Union Strategy is expected to follow, aligning EU data policy more closely with the needs of businesses and public administration.
