AI-BOOST together with EuroHPC launches “Frontier AI grand challenge” to build sovereign 400b+ parameter models

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Brussels – 13 February 2026

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.

The key dates for the challenge are as follows:

  • Challenge launch: 13 February 2026

  • Submission deadline: 13 April 2026, 17:00 CET (Brussel’s time).

  • Results published: May 2026.

Eligible entities must read the Guide for Applicants and submit the proposals via the F6S platform at: www.f6s.com/the-frontier-ai-grand-challenge.

For more information, consult www.aiboost-project.eu/frontier-ai-grand-challenge

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