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

[HPC Cineca]

AI-BOOST together with EuroHPC launches “Frontier AI grand challenge” to build sovereign 400b+ parameter models  (https://www.hpc.cineca.it/newsletter/ai-boost-together-with-eurohpc-launches-frontier-ai-grand-challenge-to-build-sovereign-400b-parameter-models/) 

30 March 2026 

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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  (http://www.f6s.com/the-frontier-ai-grand-challenge) . 

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

  

  

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