Austria as an active partner in the European AI network
AI Factory Austria is part of the European AI Factories initiative, which is supported by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the Horizon Europe programme and promotes the development of interconnected, application-oriented AI infrastructures across Europe.
“AI Factory Austria is a key component of the European AI Factories initiative. Not only does it represent a significant milestone in strengthening Austria’s digital sovereignty, but it also lays the foundations for businesses to benefit from the best European infrastructure. Our aim is to drive forward digitalisation, improve the competitiveness of businesses and make AI – a key technology – available to as many start-ups as possible, opening doors to markets and new solutions
,” explains Peter Hanke, Minister for Innovation and Infrastructure.
First use case with Zenta Solutions
Zenta Solutions, a young spin-off from the Medical University of Vienna specialising in medical data analysis, is the first company to have successfully gained access to the EuroHPC systemLeonardoin Bologna, Italy, with the help of AI Factory Austria. AI-based methods for structuring and analysing medical datasets are currently being tested and optimised there.
“As a first step, the data is fully anonymised. It is then analysed, contextualised and converted into a structured form using image-based AI models and large language models. In this way, previously unstructured health data is transformed into valuable information that forms a solid foundation for a wide range of further applications, such as predicting treatment responses,”says David Haberl of Zenta.
Zenta focuses on the use of so-called open-source models. These are open, freely accessible models that can be used entirely locally on the organisation’s own systems and are independent of external cloud infrastructure. This ensures that sensitive health data remains on-site at all times.“We are currently testing our methods on Leonardo using open datasets as well as realistically simulated example data,”adds Haberl.
Karl Kugler, co-lead of AI Factory Austria, explains:“AI Factory Austria acts as a one-stop shop. We combine technical consultancy, computing resources, training and support for the secure application of AI. This helps companies implement their data-driven projects more quickly and develop innovations from the initial idea through to the implementation of new business models.”
Thomas Beyer, co-founder of Zenta Solutions, reports:“Thanks to AI Factory Austria, we were able to access the EuroHPC systems within a few days. Access works seamlessly – we can test and further develop our models immediately without having to set up our own expensive infrastructure.”
Markus Stöhr, co-lead of AI Factory Austria and project manager at Advanced Computing Austria (ACA), adds:“With AI Factory Austria, we are creating a one-stop shop for access to high-performance computing and AI services in Europe. Our aim is to build a bridge for businesses and research institutions – from scientific discovery to practical application in business and society.”
Focus on practical support
AI Factory Austria is currently developing a comprehensive service portfolio in stages, designed in particular to facilitate access to high-performance computing and AI applications for small and medium-sized enterprises. The focus is on practical support: from selecting suitable systems through technical integration to the further development of data-driven and AI-supported applications. This specifically promotes the efficient transfer of research findings into industrial practice. With this current project, AI Factory Austria has achieved its first significant success in its start-up phase. At the same time, the range of services is being continuously expanded to support even more domestic companies in the AI sector in future and to open the way for them into the European supercomputing ecosystem.
Thomas Mayerhofer, Head of the Innovation Centre at AI Factory Austria, adds:
“The use case from Zenta Solutions demonstrates the difference that targeted support in accessing European computing resources can make. We are already in contact with other companies that have similar needs – and are helping them to make the most of the opportunities available to them within AI Factory Austria and the European AI Factory network.”
About AI Factory Austria AI:AT
AI Factory Austria AI:AT is Austria’s national platform for applied artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. It is run by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology in collaboration with Advanced Computing Austria (ACA) and offers companies, start-ups and research institutions centralised access to European computing resources, as well as consultancy, training and innovation services relating to AI, HPC and trustworthy technology development.
The AI Factory Austria consortium also includes:
the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), the University of Vienna, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), the University of Innsbruck, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), INiTS – Vienna’s High-Tech Incubator, and the EODC – Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH.
Further information:www.ai-at.eu
About Zenta Solutions
Zenta Solutions GmbH was founded in 2025 as a spin-off from the Medical University of Vienna. Zenta develops AI-powered solutions for structuring and analysing complex medical data. The company is working on technologies that make clinical information efficiently accessible to support medical research and care. In doing so, Zenta relies on modern data processing and artificial intelligence that can be executed entirely locally by the user – i.e. without external cloud infrastructure. This ensures that sensitive health data is processed and stored exclusively on-premises. In this way, the company aims to help shape the digital transformation of the healthcare sector in a secure and sustainable manner.
Further information is available at:https://www.zenta.solutions/
Funding Acknowledgement
AI Factory Austria (AI:AT) is co-funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 101253078. The Joint Undertaking is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme and by Austria (BMIMI / FFG).