Tuesday, 10 February 2026 UP part of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory
On 9 February 2026, the official launch of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory project – SLAIF (Slovenian AI Factory) took place in Ljubljana. The event, which brought together the highest representatives of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the European Commission, the SLAIF consortium, and the business sector, marked the beginning of one of Slovenia’s most important national initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
The attendees were initially addressed by the Director of the Jožef Stefan Institute, Jure Cizelj, the Director of the Institute of Information Science (IZUM), Aleš Bošnjak, the Head of the Representation of the European Commission, Dr. Jerneja Jug Jerše, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Robert Golob , and the technical coordinator of the SLAIF project, Sašo Džerovski.
The new Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory (SLAIF), which is expected to replace the current EuroHPC Vega system in 2027, represents new infrastructure for artificial intelligence. The project’s technical coordinator, Sašo Džerovski, explains that in the 20th century countries built roads and electricity grids, while in the 21st century they must think about building infrastructure for artificial intelligence. With the SLAIF project, Slovenia will not only be a user of artificial intelligence but also an active contributor to European technological sovereignty and global competitiveness.
The purpose of SLAIF is to unify the artificial intelligence ecosystem through shared infrastructure and, through easy access, tailored support, and appropriate tools, connect academic, industrial, and public stakeholders, while also enabling use by small and medium-sized enterprises.
Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob emphasized: “We must establish conditions for leveraging the knowledge of experts and transferring it into the economy. I see this as one of the greatest advantages of the new supercomputer and the artificial intelligence factory. The new supercomputer will not be intended only for scientists, but will also be accessible to others, with industry and the economy at the forefront.” The Prime Minister also mentioned that the government is considering access for citizens, which would establish a national generative artificial intelligence platform hosted within SLAIF.
About the project, in which the University of Primorska (UP) participates together with its member, the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (FAMNIT), the project leader, Prof. Dr. Marko Tkalčič, also spoke. Although he was not present on this occasion, he provided the following statement: “The most advanced forms of artificial intelligence today are no longer possible without high-performance computing infrastructure (HPC). Access to such infrastructure is usually limited to the largest global players. The SLAIF project reverses this logic: by establishing a national artificial intelligence factory (Slovenian AI Factory – SLAIF), it opens access to HPC-supported artificial intelligence to researchers, companies, startups, and public administration, while at the same time actively positioning itself within the European AI Factories and EuroHPC landscape. The key focus of the project is not only research, but also the systematic application of artificial intelligence running on supercomputing infrastructure. This will be implemented through training, user support, and concrete use cases. At the University of Primorska, we are proud that, as part of this consortium, we contribute to making HPC-supported artificial intelligence accessible and useful to the broader community, not only to the technological elite.” The event was attended on behalf of the University of Primorska by the Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Prof. Dr. Michaël Mrissa, Prof. Dr. Jernej Vičič from UP FAMNIT, and UP FAMNIT student Nataša Miletić.
SLAIF services will address four key areas of the Slovenian economy: the green transition, health and biotechnology, the digital society, and artificial intelligence in science. Project results, which will be created in cooperation with research institutes, hospitals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and government bodies, will demonstrate impacts in areas such as precision agriculture, medical diagnostics, smart energy systems, and other scientific discoveries.
The SLAIF project, as part of an initiative that currently includes thirteen factories across Europe, is funded by the Republic of Slovenia (Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation), the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, and the European Commission.
The SLAIF project coordinator is the Institute of Information Science. Partner institutions, in addition to the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies of the University of Primorska, include the Jožef Stefan Institute, the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics of the University of Maribor, the Faculty of Information Studies of the University of Novo Mesto, the University of Nova Gorica, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, and the Ljubljana Technology Park.
