Open source LLMs hit Europe's digital sovereignty roadmap | TechCrunch

OpenEuroLLM aims to develop "truly" open source language models covering all EU languages.

This includes the current 24 official languages, as well as languages for countries negotiating for entry to the EU market.

The project fits a broader narrative that has seen Europe push digital sovereignty as a priority.

The stated budget just for building the models themselves is 37.4 million , with roughly 20 million coming from the EU ’s Digital Europe Programme .

OpenEuroLLM aims to create "a series of foundation models for transparent AI in Europe " The project’s top-line goal, as per its tagline, is to create: “A series of foundations models” These models should preserve the “linguistic and cultural diversity” of all EU languages.

The project could still gather new participants as part of the EU program providing funding, though it will be limited to EU organizations.

OpenEuroLLM aims to build an open source European Large Language Model that supports 24 Official European languages, and a few other strategically important languages.

It's not about trying to outmaneuver Big Tech or billion-dollar AI startups; the ultimate goal is digital sovereignty: digital sovereignty.

Haji calls the situation “unfortunate,” adding that he hoped they might be able to cooperate.