The Government of the Generalitat has given the green light to the creation of the public-private commercial company that will promote the European artificial intelligence (AI) gigafactory, a multi-site project that Spain wants to locate in Móra la Nova (Tarragona) and San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), as detailed this Tuesday in a press release after the meeting of the Executive Council.
In its statement, the Catalan Executive specifies that the statutes and the shareholders' agreement have been validated, in addition to authorizing Incasòl to participate in the constitution of the new company, which represents a "definitive boost" to an infrastructure considered strategic, with the potential to generate economic activity and employment and to consolidate Catalonia as a reference hub in the field of AI.
The new company is created with an initial shareholding structure formed by 1% of the Generalitat through Incasòl; 47.99% of the State through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT); 15.67% of Telefónica; another 15.67% of ACS and an additional 15.67% of Banco Santander, along with 4% of Multiverse.
The Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function has indicated, however, that the final composition of the public-private consortium "is being finalized," given that the dimension of the project requires combining administrative leadership, industrial capacity, financial resources, and technological solvency.
The shareholders' agreement also defines a capital distribution under a "flexible" scheme, designed to adapt to the different phases of development and allow the entry of new participants in the future.
The Government emphasizes that the constitution of this company is an essential condition for applying to the next European call for funding the deployment of AI gigafactories, which the European Commission plans to launch in the coming months.
The 'SEPI Digital' commits 719 million euros
In parallel, the Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday an investment of 719 million euros by the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, channeled through the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), known as "SEPI Digital," in the public-private consortium that will develop the AI gigafactory and will apply to the call that the European Commission will announce shortly.
With this decision, the Government launches a considered strategic bet to launch a large-scale industrial project and ensure Spain's participation in one of the main European AI infrastructures.
The central Executive's economic contribution aims to place the country at the forefront of European artificial intelligence infrastructures, incorporating sustainability criteria as a priority.
The European Commission has framed this call within the "InvestAI" initiative, which includes a specific fund to financially support the construction of gigafactories.