EU launches dual AI strategies to accelerate industry adoption and scientific discovery
On October 8, 2025, the European Commission announced two linked initiatives: the Apply AI Strategy and the AI in Science Strategy. The goal is clear-speed up practical AI use across sectors while giving researchers the compute, data, and funding to push new discoveries.
Together, these strategies target scale: widespread deployment in industry and public services, and deeper integration of AI into Europe's research ecosystem, with a strong focus on trust, safety, and measurable impact.
Apply AI Strategy: integration across sectors and public services
The Apply AI Strategy seeks broad AI adoption in healthcare, energy, mobility, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, defence, and communication. It also supports SMEs and public services aiming for efficiency gains and new capabilities.
- €1 billion to fund concrete projects, including AI-powered screening centres in healthcare.
- Development of sector-specific AI models for areas like pharmaceuticals and environmental monitoring.
- European Digital Innovation Hubs will evolve into Experience Centres for AI, providing access to tools, data, and infrastructure. See the EDIH network.
- A new Apply AI Alliance will coordinate industry, academia, public sector, and civil society.
- An AI Observatory will track trends and assess AI's impact across sectors.
- Promotion of "AI-first" thinking so teams consider AI as a primary approach to operational problems.
AI in Science Strategy: compute, talent, and collaboration
This strategy positions Europe to lead in AI-driven research. RAISE (Resource for AI Science in Europe), a new virtual institute, will coordinate resources and collaboration across countries and disciplines.
- €600 million from Horizon Europe to give researchers and startups access to high-performance computing via AI Gigafactories. Learn more about Horizon Europe.
- Planned increase in AI-related research funding under Horizon Europe to over €3 billion annually.
- Investment in training: Networks of Excellence and Doctoral Networks to develop a strong pipeline of AI researchers and domain scientists.
What this means for research leaders
- Faster movement from prototypes to deployed systems through sector partnerships and Experience Centres.
- More compute access for large-scale experiments, simulation surrogates, and model training.
- Clearer signal on evaluation and monitoring through the AI Observatory.
- Expanded talent pipelines and new collaboration channels via RAISE and European networks.
- Improved data access on the horizon via the upcoming Data Union Strategy.
How to act now
- Prioritise 2-3 high-value use cases per lab or centre (e.g., experiment scheduling, active learning for labeling, scientific surrogate models).
- Audit data readiness: consent, provenance, quality, and access controls; document lineages and evaluation plans.
- Engage your nearest Experience Centre/EDIH for pilots, tooling, and testbeds (find an EDIH).
- Prepare HPC-ready workflows: containerised training/inference, reproducible pipelines, and MLOps to leverage Horizon Europe access.
- Form consortia with SMEs and sector partners to boost proposal strength and deployment pathways.
- Upskill teams in foundation models, evaluation, safety, and domain-specific AI. See structured options at Complete AI Training.
Key dates and signals
- Data Union Strategy expected later this month to improve access to high-quality datasets.
- AI in Science Summit in Copenhagen in November will launch multiple initiatives under these strategies.
Policy and assurance
Plan for privacy, security, model evaluation, and reproducibility from the start. Use human oversight for high-impact use cases, and keep procurement and documentation aligned with EU expectations and sector rules.
For funding, infrastructure, and governance details, monitor Horizon Europe calls and outcomes from the AI Observatory and RAISE as they go live.
