Lisbon, June 25, 2026 (Lusa) - The government approved, at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, a €200 million grant to bolster its bid for the European AI gigafactory, aimed at acquiring computing power.

Should the bid be selected, the European Commission will match Portugal’s €200 million investment.

“Portugal is part of an Iberian gigafactory project, and this bid involves a public investment of €200 million over seven years, with this amount earmarked for computing capacity,” the minister stated at a press conference following the cabinet meeting.

Portugal and Spain submitted a joint bid for the gigafactory, and the BPF – Banco Português de Fomento leads the Portuguese effort; the European Union is currently reviewing the proposal as part of the EuroHPC programme.

“This amount is earmarked for computing capacity; therefore, what we are doing here is ensuring that the Portuguese state will have access to computing capacity which it can then distribute amongst the various departments and ministries that require it,” he said.

The minister also stated that the gigafactory “is intended to provide computing capacity and artificial intelligence for the state, and the state is expected to concentrate all its computing capacity there,” and that it will also be open to society.

“It is also intended for small and medium-sized enterprises or companies wishing to join, and is therefore a consortium open to Portuguese companies, ensuring that Portugal will have sovereign capacity for the production of artificial intelligence in the future,” he said.

AJR/ADB // ADB.

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