Digital EuropeDIGITAL JU Simple Grants

AI chip demonstrators for EU compute infrastructure

Deadline23 September 2026
Total budget€10M
Grant size€500k–€1M
Expected grants10
Opens7 July 2026
Deadline modelsingle-stage
Call IDDIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI1-SG

What this call funds

Expected Outcome

The expected outcomes of this topic are :

  • Functional demonstrators of working AI chip prototypes (PCB-level) designed by EU fabless companies and physically integrated with their system partners.
  • Validation of AI chip solutions on a common EU evaluation platform (provided by the Topic X.B consortium), delivering comparative evidence on key performance indicators.
  • A shortlist of European AI chip solutions awarded the AI Compute Excellence label and qualified to proceed to full rack development under Topic X.A2.
Eligibility & conditions+

Conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

1. Admissibility conditions: Proposal page limit and layout

Proposal page limits and layout: detailed in Part B of the Application Form, which you can access from the Call documents section on the Chips JU website's Call page

The following information are all described in the Appendix 8 of the Chips JU Workprogramme

2. Eligible countries

3. Other eligibility conditions

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion

5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes

5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants

Specific Call Documents

Ownership Control Declaration form template

National Budgets Table template (xls)

Guide for applicants - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI1-SG

Template of Application Form - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI1-SG

Template of Evaluation Form - DIGITAL-JU-CHIPS-2026-AI1-SG

General Call Documents

Chips JU Multiannual Work Programme

PAB decision on the evaluation and selection procedures related to Calls for Proposals

Rules for legal entity validation, LEAR appointment, financial capacity and ownership control assessment

Annotated Model Grant Agreement for EU Funding Programmes 2021-2027

Appendix 8 of Work Programme - Chips for Europe Initiative

Call document and annexes:

Model Grant Agreements (MGA)

DEP MGA

Additional documents:

DEP Regulation 2021/964

EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509

EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement

Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual

Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions

Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement

Source: EU Funding & Tenders Portal · synced 2026-07-07