Tuesday 13 October @ 12:30-14:00 CET

On Tuesday, 13 October, ECR MEP Diego Solier and S&D MEP Brando Benifei, together with members of the European Internet Forum (EIF), will host a lunch debate at the European Parliament focused on building the backbone of the AI economy: scaling Europe’s high-performance infrastructure.

With the AI Act in force and the simplification package agreed in June 2026, the essentials of Europe’s regulatory architecture for AI are now largely settled. The focus is now shifting to implementation: building the computing, cloud, connectivity and industrial capacity Europe needs to deploy AI at scale and compete globally. AI Factories and Gigafactories are at the heart of this effort, laying the foundations of a European AI ecosystem, and the recently proposed Cloud and AI Development Act aims to expand the cloud and data centre capacity needed to support them. The challenge ahead is to make technological sovereignty operational, realistic and globally competitive — strengthening Europe’s own capabilities while working with the global partners and supply chains that remain essential to building AI capacity.

This event will explore how Europe can move from setting rules to building the AI infrastructure needed to support competitiveness, innovation and deployment at scale. How can AI Factories and Gigafactories develop into thriving industrial ecosystems, with public investment mobilising private investment and driving uptake across the economy? What role does connectivity play in bringing AI capacity to businesses and users across the economy? And how can European preference, security and resilience requirements strengthen Europe’s capabilities while remaining open to the global technologies, partners and supply chains needed to build, deploy and scale AI?

When: Tuesday @ 12:30

Where: European Parliament Salons

Opening remarks

• Brando Benifei MEP and EIF Steering Committee Member
• Diego Solier MEP and EIF Member

Speakers

• Carmen Lembo, Senior Manager in Government Affairs, Qualcomm
• Kilian Gross, Director for Enabling and Emerging Technologies, DG CNECT, European Commission
• Sophie Thibault, General Manager, Lenovo France
• Dr. Jakob Greiner, Vice President European Affairs at Deutsche Telekom

Exchange of views with the participants under the Chatham House rule