Nine Nations Form Europe’s New AI Power Bloc: The Prague Declaration, Shared Compute, Gigafactories and the High-Stakes Race to Compete With the US and China

Nine Central and Eastern European countries have made a coordinated move that could reshape Europe’s position in the global artificial intelligence race. Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Slovenia have signed the Prague Declaration on AI, committing to closer cooperation on policy, computing infrastructure, technical expertise, and the development of a more connected regional AI ecosystem.

In this episode of The Daily AI Chat, we unpack why this agreement matters far beyond a ceremonial signing. The declaration emerged from the CEE AI Summit 2026 in Prague, where more than 250 representatives from government, industry, and research gathered to discuss how the region can accelerate AI adoption and compete more effectively. The participating countries want to coordinate their positions on European Union AI policy, connect existing AI Factories, support future AI Gigafactories, and make advanced computing resources more accessible across national borders.

That ambition arrives at a critical moment. The United States and China continue to invest enormous sums in frontier models, chips, data centers, energy, and the talent required to operate them. Europe has world-class researchers, powerful industrial companies, valuable data, and major regulatory influence, yet its AI capacity remains fragmented. A nine-country coalition could reduce duplication, improve bargaining power, attract investment, and help smaller economies gain access to infrastructure they would struggle to finance alone.

We explore the key questions behind the announcement. Can shared infrastructure translate into real economic leverage? Will national governments align quickly enough on funding, governance, data access, and procurement? Could Central and Eastern Europe become a major hub for applied AI in manufacturing, cybersecurity, defense, healthcare, and public services? And does the Prague Declaration represent the beginning of a durable European AI power bloc—or another promising political document whose impact depends entirely on execution?

The episode also examines what AI Factories and Gigafactories could mean in practice. These facilities are not simply bigger data centers. They combine high-performance computing, specialized accelerators, data resources, software, research expertise, and support for startups and established companies. Connecting them across the region could give researchers and businesses access to capabilities that are currently concentrated in only a few places.

For technology leaders, investors, policymakers, and anyone following the international AI race, this story is a reminder that competitive advantage will not come from models alone. It will also depend on electricity, chips, data centers, networks, talent, procurement, and the ability of institutions to cooperate across borders. The Prague Declaration is an attempt to coordinate those pieces before the gap with global leaders becomes even harder to close.

Source: AIdapted, published September 5, 2026. Reporting and compilation credited to the AIdapted Editorial Team.

Listen for a clear, conversational breakdown of the announcement, its strategic implications, the obstacles ahead, and what this new regional alliance could mean for Europe’s AI future.