A workshop for the project "AI Gigafactory in Bavaria" took place at the town hall of the city of Schweinfurt on March 11. The background is the bid to establish a European AI Gigafactory in Bavaria and Germany, with the Conn Barracks site as a possible location for a data center. The Free State of Bavaria had already submitted an expression of interest to the European Commission under the project name "Blue Swan" in 2025.

The event was organized by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art, the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, and the Zweckverband Interkommunaler Gewerbepark Conn Barracks, in cooperation with the city and district of Schweinfurt as well as the partners Leibniz Computing Center, Investa, BAIOSPHERE, and Fraunhofer IIS.

AI infrastructure and applications in focus

The workshop brought together representatives from business, science, and politics to discuss possible AI use cases and requirements for an AI Gigafactory. The focus was particularly on practical applications for medium-sized businesses, including in the areas of robotics, finance, mobility, production, health, security, and defense.

Impulses on current developments in the field of artificial intelligence were provided by Prof. Dr. Jan Schmitt (THWS), Dr. Michael Klimke (BAIOSPHERE), and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Grill (Fraunhofer IIS). In addition, Prof. Dr. Dieter Kranzlmüller (Leibniz Computing Center) and Tonio Rost (Investa) presented the "Blue Swan" project.

Bavaria's State Minister for Science and the Arts Markus Blume was connected digitally. Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria's State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, participated in person and emphasized the central role of powerful data centers for cloud services, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation.

Location potential for the Schweinfurt region

In several working groups, additional content was developed to be included in the application for a European AI Gigafactory. The Schweinfurt region sees the establishment of such a data center as a great opportunity for innovation, value creation, and employment.

The final application is to be submitted after the publication of the corresponding call for proposals by the EU Commission, which is expected in the coming weeks.