Faq

The BSC AI Factory (BSC AIF) is a large-scale initiative led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), and a joint effort of Spain, Portugal, Türkiye and Romania. It provides AI-optimised supercomputing power, curated datasets, open-source AI software and specialised expert support to startups, SMEs and public administrations, through a single, guided entry point: the BSC AI Factory One-Stop Shop.

The BSC AI Factory is built around MareNostrum5, one of the most powerful and versatile supercomputers in Europe. As part of the BSC AI Factory, MareNostrum5 will integrate a dedicated AI partition that doubles the system's original capacity and is optimised for tasks such as large language model (LLM) development, deep learning and other data-intensive AI workloads. You can learn more about MN5 here.

During the initial assessment of your case, the BSC AIF team will describe the available computing infrastructures and how to gain access to each of them via EuroHPC and/or national access routes.

The BSC AI Factory has received funding from the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101234399, together with Spain, Portugal, Romania and Türkiye. It is co-funded by the Spanish Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service (SEDIA) and has received additional funding from the Government of Catalonia.

BSC AIF Factory is designed to serve startups, SMEs and public sector entities in Spain, Portugal, Türkiye and Romania. However, BSC AI Factory services are available to any startup, SME or public sector entity legally incorporated in any European Union Member State, or in a third country associated with Horizon 2020, the Digital Europe Programme, or to Horizon Europe.

During the initial assessment of your case, we will describe the available computing infrastructures and how to gain access to each of them via EuroHPC and/or national access routes.
Access to MareNostrum5 is granted through the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and organized into three access modes:

• Playground Access, for new users running small-scale experiments;
• Fast Lane Access, providing up to 50,000 GPU hours for MVPs, applied innovation or pilot deployments over projects of up to three months;
• Large Scale Access, for mature, high-impact AI projects requiring more than 50,000 GPU hours over three, six or twelve months.

Applications can be submitted online at any time here.

Besides the EuroHPC access calls, the BSC AI Factory facilitates access through national mechanisms: the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES); TÜBİTAK, through open national calls for Turkish start-ups and SMEs; and FCT / the InovIA initiative, providing Portuguese startups and SMEs with free access to Deucalion and MareNostrum5.

The BSC AI Factory services cover a wide range of needs: from access to compute resources, to AI data discovery, preparation and publication, to AI models developments and evaluation, trustworthy AI guidance, AI training in many fields, the use of coworking & incubation spaces in several locations as well as an acceleration programme for AI startups.

All the information about BSC AI Factory is published and updated at the Service Catalogue

No. To avoid any potential intellectual property disputes the BSC AI Factory experts will NOT develop or co-develop with your technical teams. The support services provided by the BSC AI Factory are mainly focused on delivering operational and strategic guidance, providing examples, providing data, tools, or example code, troubleshooting, etc.

Yes. Beyond computing access, the BSC AI Factory provides advisory services to help organisations understand and address regulatory requirements linked to AI adoption, including support related to the EU AI Act and data protection obligations, as part of its broader Expert Support offering.

Yes, for startups, SMEs and public sector entities, BSC AI Factory services are free of charge (at least until March 31st 2028).

To access the BSC AI Factory services you will need to agree to the General BSC AI Factory Terms & Conditions. Some of the services are subject to the acceptance of additional Service-Specific Terms & Conditions.

Despite being free of charge, you will be presented with a document showing the actual cost of the services you have been allocated (compute resources, AI experts guidance, training sessions, etc.).

As resources are limited, you will be asked to participate actively and in a timely manner in the whole BSC AI Factory process (ex: allocate time from your team for project coordination, preparation for the AI project, actual use of allocated computing resources, attendance to training sessions, presence in coworking & incubation spaces, etc.). Failing to do so will result in your resource allocation to be withdrawn.

No, you can apply without any technical expertise. Although the priority is to support organizations with medium- and advanced-level AI maturity, the BSC AI Factory is also designed to support organizations without in-house AI expertise with entry level services.

Our Key Account Managers will use the interview with you to assess what services would best suit your organization.

Yes. Services can be combined into a single package tailored to your use case (for example, HPC access together with expert support and training) and each request is assessed individually. Organizations may also submit several project ideas or proofs of concepts; each one is evaluated on its own merits and may result in a dedicated support package.