What will happen in the first AI Factory in Poland? Expert explains

• The first quantum computer financed under the EuroHPC initiative will be built in Poland. Its installation is underway and the opening is planned for June this year - reveals Robert Pękal, director of the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center.
• This is a research and development project – although quantum technology is not yet fully mature, the computer will be used to test, develop and compare different technological approaches.
• The quantum computer will cooperate with the AI ​​Factory, which will also be launched in Poznań (the launch is planned for mid-2026), and with the Proxima supercomputer already installed there.

Poznań is becoming an important center on the technological map of Poland. Within a year, two important projects co-financed by the EU will be created there: a quantum computer and the AI ​​Factory.

What will the Polish AI Factory produce?

The AI ​​Factory is a joint project, in which half of the financing comes from the national budget and the other half from EU funds under the EuroHPC JU program. Poland is one of the first countries to win the competition to build such a supercomputer configured specifically for use in AI work.

- Our application was one of the best rated in the second cut off - says Robert Pękal, director of the Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center.

As he announces, the AI ​​Factory will be ready in the second half of next year. Its implementation may depend on the availability of GPU chips and market conditions. - The emerging tariffs will definitely have some impact on the prices of solutions - he estimates.

What will it be used for? As Pękal informs, the Poznań computer will process huge amounts of data and support artificial intelligence projects. Half of the resources will go to European companies, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (this is because the EU financed 50 percent of the investment). The other part will be allocated to domestic needs – for science and support for Polish companies, which will be able to use these resources free of charge.

What does this mean in practice? As Pękal announces: support for business in creating AI-based solutions.

In June, a quantum computer will be launched in Poznań

The first quantum computer in Europe is also being built in Poznań, from another EuroHPC JU project. This is part of a larger European initiative, which will see the creation of six such machines. The Poznań computer will be the first of them to be physically installed.

- The tender has already taken place. The computer is currently being manufactured and will be installed in Poznań in mid-June. I think that we will officially open this quantum computer in June - Pękal announced.

The project, like AI Factories, is financed in a 50/50 model – half of the funds come from EU funds (EuroHPC), the other half from the national budget.

Why is a quantum computer being built? As Pękal argues, although quantum technology is not yet fully commercially useful, the computer will be used for research and development. - Each of the computers that will be installed in Europe will be in a different technology - notes the guest of the WNP studio at the European Economic Congress . And he adds:

These technologies are developing quite intensively and from today's perspective we do not yet know which will prove to be a dead end and which will be dominant.

At the same time, it will create an environment for cooperation with the Poznań AI Factory and the Proxima supercomputer, which will be put into operation in 2023.