Lantern Grants

AI compute evaluation and deployment platform for EU infrastructure

Funder
European Commission · Digital Europe Programme
Award amount
€50,000,000 – €70,000,000
Deadline
December 1, 2026
Eligible countries
European Union

Summary

Open EU call topic DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GFP · DIGITAL JU Grants for Procurement. Part of call DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GFP: DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GFP. Next deadline 2026-12-01. Topic page: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI-GFP

Expected Outcome: The expected outcomes of this topic are : - A common EU evaluation platform for AI chips and racks, with transparent KPIs, workloads and benchmark reports used for Chips JU selection and procurement decisions. - First pilot deployments of European AI compute systems validated for EU sovereign partitions of AI infrastructure. - Structured collaboration between buyers and suppliers, supporting deployment, integration and optimisation of European AI compute solutions. - Stronger EU demand for European AI chips and racks, helping to create a market for deployment-ready solutions. - Increased EU technological sovereignty across the AI compute stack for European datacentres.

Summary as listed by the funder. Always read the full announcement for eligibility, limits and how to apply.

Read the full announcement →

What European Union reviewers look for

  • Most Horizon Europe calls score three criteria (the ERC uses excellence alone). Excellence: clarity and ambition of the objectives, and the soundness of the methodology.
  • Impact: credible pathways to the expected outcomes, and measures to communicate and exploit results.
  • Quality and efficiency of implementation: the work plan, resources and the consortium's capacity.

Read our guide: what funded applications do →

See how this call matches your research

Build a free research profile and Lantern Grants scores every open call against your work, tracks your deadlines and reminds you before they pass.

Get matched free