A European AI Factory anchored in Greece
“Pharos: The Greek AI Factory for Accelerating AI Innovation” is an ambitious initiative that aims to establish an EU AI Factory in Greece, strategically leveraging the pre-exascale supercomputer Daedalus to accelerate AI-driven innovation.
Its core mission is to democratize AI by providing accessible resources, tools, and expertise to a wide range of users, with a particular focus on startups and small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs). Pharos is conceived as a dynamic AI hub where advanced infrastructure, high-quality data, skills development, and business innovation support come together to generate real impact.
Daedalus: High-performance computing at the core of Pharos
At the heart of Pharos lies Daedalus, a pre-exascale high-performance computing (HPC) system that provides the computational backbone required for cutting-edge AI:
- training large-scale AI and machine learning models,
- running complex experiments and simulations,
- enabling the development and deployment of advanced AI applications.
Through seamless integration with Daedalus, Pharos will offer researchers, innovators, and public sector organisations access to computational capabilities that have traditionally been limited to a few elite centers worldwide. This positions Greece as a key actor in HPC-powered AI within the European landscape.
Focus on real-world impact: Health, Culture & Language, Sustainability
Pharos is not just about generic AI capability. It is explicitly designed to tackle major societal challenges, with a strategic focus on three domains:
Health
In the health sector, Pharos will enable:
- predictive analytics for chronic diseases,
- tools that support personalised patient care,
- AI-driven decision support systems that leverage large and heterogeneous datasets.
The aim is to contribute to earlier diagnosis, improved patient outcomes, and more efficient use of healthcare resources.
Culture & Language
Greece holds a unique cultural legacy and a language with millennia of history. Pharos seeks to harness AI to:
- support cultural heritage preservation, restoration, and promotion,
- enable the preservation and promotion of the Greek language and broader European linguistic diversity,
- develop language technologies and models tailored to Greek and other European languages.
Here, AI becomes a tool for cultural empowerment and linguistic continuity, not just automation.
Sustainability
In the domain of sustainability, Pharos will foster AI solutions for:
- renewable energy integration,
- resource management (such as water and energy),
- optimization of energy systems and reduction of carbon footprints.
By applying advanced predictive and optimization models, Pharos can support greener, more resilient, and more efficient infrastructures.
Beyond infrastructure: skills, data, and business innovation support
Pharos is designed as a holistic AI innovation ecosystem, not just a compute platform. It will provide:
- Upskilling and training programs for researchers, engineers, business professionals, and public servants, ensuring that they can design, evaluate, and responsibly deploy AI solutions.
- Access to high-quality datasets, with emphasis on curated, well-documented data for health, culture, environment, and other domains.
- Cutting-edge AI model training capabilities, from traditional ML models to large language models and advanced deep learning architectures.
- Dedicated business innovation support, helping startups and SMEs transform AI research into viable products and services, facilitated by mentoring, technical advisory, and networking opportunities.
In this sense, Pharos acts as an AI innovation accelerator for the Greek and European ecosystem.
Trustworthy AI at the center
A defining principle of Pharos is its commitment to trustworthy and responsible AI. This includes a strong emphasis on:
- data privacy and protection,
- security and robustness of AI systems,
- transparency and explainability of methods and models,
- alignment with the European regulatory framework for AI.
From data collection to model deployment, Pharos aims to embed ethical considerations and accountability, ensuring that AI is developed and used in ways that serve the public interest and maintain societal trust.
Part of a European, cross-border AI innovation ecosystem
As an EU AI Factory, Pharos is envisioned as a node in a broader European network rather than an isolated initiative. It will develop concrete networking and collaboration pathways with:
- European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs),
- European Data Spaces,
- National Competence Centres (NCCs),
- the DeployAI initiative,
- and other emerging AI Factories.
Through these connections, Pharos will contribute to a cross-border AI innovation ecosystem, where infrastructure, data, and expertise are shared and leveraged across countries and sectors.
Greece, EuroHPC, and Europe’s digital sovereignty
Pharos embodies Greece’s commitment to becoming a leading contributor in the area of HPC-powered AI. By aligning with EuroHPC’s strategic objectives, Pharos aims to:
- foster AI-driven innovation and sustainability,
- strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty,
- and position Greece as a significant player in shaping the future of AI in Europe.
Ultimately, Pharos is more than an infrastructure project. It is a vision for ethical, responsible, and impactful AI, one in which Greece plays an active, constructive role within the European AI landscape, promoting innovation that is both technologically advanced and firmly grounded in societal values.
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Source of this article:iit.demokritos.gr