Lisbon, Nov. 12, 2025 (Lusa) - The Artificial Intelligence (AI) gigafactory in Sines, on the coast in Portugal's Alentejo region, is expected to make a major contribution to the nation's growth in the European AI landscape, potentially making it a continental leader, according to officials from Defined.ai and Tekever, which are part of the consortium.
At a panel discussion at the Banco Português de Fomento (the state controlled business development bank) stand at the Web Summit, which runs until Thursday in Lisbon, the founder and president of Defined.ai, Daniela Braga, and the director of Tekever Digital in Portugal, Rui Lobo, welcomed the announcement of this infrastructure, believing that it could be fundamental for their areas.
"Now, with Banco de Fomento leading this consortium and bringing together all the major players in Portugal, it's a dream come true. I'm very excited," said Daniela Braga.
The president of Defined.ai said that five years ago, she spoke with several officials about presenting a centre of excellence for AI in Portugal.
"At the time, I thought Europe still had a chance to compete in the global AI race," she pointed out, recalling the case of Israel, "which is the size of Portugal and became a world leader in cyber security in 10 years with the support of the government."
The vice-president for Business Interface, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Lisbon Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Pedro Amaral, said that Sines "has three very, very important things" for the project: submarine cables, the port, and energy, highlighting the high production by renewables.
Rui Lobo said that the goal is to use AI and computing to "revolutionise and shape a new model of industry in defence. Having this AI in Portugal is already good news," he pointed out.
In the company executive's view, the creation of the gigafactory in Sines could be a mechanism to ensure data sovereignty on the European side, rather than in China or the United States.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday a US$10 billion investment (around €8.6 billion) in the Sines data centre.
"We are investing US$10 billion in Portugal, in Sines, with Start Campus and Nscale," said Brad Smith in an interview with the newspaper Negócios, explaining that this investment "is greater than all the investments in data centres that the company has already made in Spain".
The Portuguese Development Bank, together with private entities, submitted an application to the European Commission to try to attract an AI gigafactory to Sines, with an estimated investment of €4 billion.
JO/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
