Slovakia has a chance to convert electricity into intelligence and gain a new export: computational power. Experience with building data centers and the example of Košice show that targeted infrastructure can set an entire region in motion. The speaker proposes building a modular AI factory that brings together business, academia, and the state.
From Košice to a new paradigm
At the beginning of the millennium, the first large data center was established in Košice, which attracted T-Systems and subsequently other companies. The city built an IT ecosystem, new study programs, and a stable talent pipeline. According to local estimates, around 15 000 jobs in the region are now directly or indirectly tied to IT. It wasn’t just a technological project, but a vision for the entire region.
Today a new paradigm is emerging: the basic unit of value is no longer a raw material, but an intelligent service. Electricity is being converted into computational power for artificial intelligence, whose models require ever more energy as well as specialized chips. Countries with stable infrastructure thus gain a competitive advantage.
AI Factory: from cost center to export
An AI factory is not just a 'server room', but an asset that generates revenue along three lines. First, through the direct export of computational power – from GPU capacity to data processing. Second, by boosting the productivity of companies that have fast and affordable access to AI. And third, by creating an ecosystem that supports startups and innovation.
Europe, however, lags in industrially scalable capacity and investment cycles are slow. If we do not build capacity at home, we will buy it abroad – often from electricity we ourselves export. Slovakia, meanwhile, has energy, industrial 'DNA' and a location in the center of Europe. Just as the Asian 'tigers' bet on an export-oriented economy, we can add the export of computational power to cars and heavy industry.
How to do it: speed, coordination, talent
The window of opportunity is open only briefly, so we must act quickly. Coordination is key: private capital with academia, the state, and telecommunications and energy companies. It is equally important to cultivate talent and support related activities. Tatra Super Compute’s aim is to build a modular AI factory with cutting-edge technologies, in the first phase to enter the EU market with industrially delivered capacity, and thanks to modularity to scale flexibly according to demand and technologies.
Such an operation has the parameters of a modern factory: high density of GPU chips, stable power, efficient liquid cooling, and industrial reliability. An important part is also the use of waste heat for heating. The goal is to strengthen sovereignty in AI, revive the economy, and bring new opportunities at a time when the departure of shared service centers looms.
