The European Commission has unveiled its most ambitious digital strategy to date with the release of the AI Continent Action Plan, a comprehensive roadmap designed to establish Europe as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI). The plan outlines measures to strengthen the region’s AI capabilities, infrastructure, and talent, while promoting ethical, secure, and inclusive AI development.
At Telefónica, one of Europe’s leading telecommunications providers, the announcement has been welcomed as a decisive moment for the region’s digital sovereignty — and a much-needed opportunity to bring AI innovation closer to European citizens and businesses.
Europe has the talent, infrastructure, and values to lead in responsible AI. But until now, fragmented investment and regulation have slowed our progress. This plan signals a clear, collective ambition to change that.
A new AI vision for Europe
Central to the AI Continent Action Plan is the InvestAI Initiative, a €200 billion program to scale AI projects across Europe. This will be supported by the development of AI Factories and Gigafactories, designed to enhance computing power and foster AI innovation.
The plan also includes the Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to triple Europe’s data center capacity, and the Data Union Strategy, which seeks to create a unified European data market. The Apply AI Strategy focuses on driving AI adoption in sectors like healthcare and public services, while the AI Talent Development Initiative aims to expand education and workforce training to build a skilled AI workforce.
Why it matters for the telecom industry
Few industries will feel the impact of these policies as directly as telecommunications. As Europe’s digital backbone, telcos manage vast data flows, high-performance networks, and critical infrastructure — all of which AI has the potential to transform.
For Telefónica, the Action Plan’s focus on AI computing, data sovereignty, and infrastructure investment aligns closely with its ongoing digital strategy.
Telefónica has long believed that AI will fundamentally reshape how networks, services, and digital experiences are delivered. This Action Plan creates the policy framework and resources needed to make that future possible in Europe.
AI Factories, Gigafactories, and the Data Economy
Among the highlights of the plan are the proposals to establish 13 AI Factories and 5 AI Gigafactories across Europe. These facilities will enhance Europe’s computing power, enabling the training and deployment of complex AI models on a regional scale.
Telefónica sees these initiatives as vital enablers for the telecom sector. AI Factories will provide the resources needed for applications such as network optimization, predictive maintenance, cybersecurity, and hyper-personalized customer services.
The company’s own AI projects — like KERNEL, its digital assistant platform, and UNICA Next, its AI-powered network management system — already rely on advanced AI infrastructure. More regional AI computing capacity would allow Telefónica to deploy even more powerful, multilingual, and secure AI models tailored to European needs.
The Data Union Strategy is equally crucial. Europe’s plan to build a true single market for data, breaking down silos across countries and sectors, will enable operators like Telefónica to responsibly leverage vast quantities of network and customer data for AI-driven services, all while respecting privacy and security standards.
Cloud, Edge, and the new AI infrastructure
One of the plan’s standout proposals is the Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to triple Europe’s data center capacity over the next five to seven years. This is seen as essential to hosting large AI models, cloud-native services, and sovereign data environments.
Telefónica has long advocated for more investment in European digital infrastructure. The company is already a member of GAIA-X, the European cloud federation project, and is actively expanding its cloud, edge, and AI service portfolio through Telefónica Tech.
In addition, the Action Plan acknowledges the strategic importance of telco edge computing. By processing data closer to the network edge, telecoms can significantly reduce latency and improve real-time AI applications — a crucial requirement for 5G, IoT, smart cities, and industrial automation.
Telefónica’s deployment of multi-access edge computing nodes integrated with its 5G network has already enabled new AI-powered services, including real-time video analytics, AI-driven network slicing, and low-latency enterprise applications.
AI in strategic sectors — including telecoms
The Commission’s Apply AI Strategy highlights the importance of accelerating AI adoption in priority sectors, with electronic communications among them. Telefónica says this reflects how critical AI has become in transforming network management, customer services, and digital business models.
Telefónica already deploys AI-powered fraud detection systems, capable of identifying and blocking suspicious traffic in real time. Its enterprise division, Telefónica Tech, offers AI-driven business intelligence and cybersecurity services to companies and governments.
The company believes that clear, supportive regulation will be essential to scale these initiatives across Europe and compete with global players.
The AI Continent Action Plan marks a defining moment for Europe’s digital future. It combines much-needed investment, infrastructure, data policy, and talent initiatives into a single, cohesive strategy.
For Telefónica, this is not only an opportunity to enhance AI capabilities and services, but also a chance to help shape a European AI ecosystem rooted in ethical values, security, and technological leadership.
