Deadline Date: March 31, 2026
The European Union has launched a new initiative under the Digital Europe Programme to deploy cybersecure tools, technologies, and services relying on artificial intelligence, aiming to reinforce Europe’s digital sovereignty and resilience.
The focus of this action includes AI-based technologies (including GenAI) for national authorities and competent authorities, including National and Cross-Border Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, public bodies and private entities from the NIS 2 directive, NCCs, etc. It supports technologies that enable the creation and analysis of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), automation of large-scale processes, scalable processing of CTI, and identification of patterns for rapid detection and decision making. It also addresses the security of AI itself, including the misuse of AI by malicious actors, risk assessments, mitigation of cybersecurity risks inherent to AI technologies, supply chain security, and compliance with the AI Act, intellectual property legislation and the GDPR. Furthermore, it aims to develop secure, robust, and trustworthy AI solutions that enhance social acceptance during deployment.
The initiative focuses on developing and deploying AI-based systems and tools for cybersecurity that enhance threat detection, vulnerability assessment, incident recovery, and data sharing. It promotes the automation of cybersecurity processes through real-time monitoring, anomaly detection, and creation of CTI to improve response speed and resilience. Additionally, the programme emphasises cybersecure tools for risk reduction across AI, IoT, and smart grid ecosystems, self-healing mechanisms for incident recovery, and vulnerability scanning to pre-empt attacks. It also encourages the protection of sensitive business data through access pattern analysis and the anonymised sharing of threat intelligence among organisations.
The expected results include the deployment of AI-powered technologies for National and Cross-Border Cyber Hubs, CSIRTs, and national authorities to enhance cooperation and operational capacity. It also envisions the development of novel, secure, and compliant AI tools, contributing to the standardisation and certification of trustworthy AI technologies aligned with the EU legislative framework. By prioritising robust AI-based cybersecurity solutions, the initiative seeks to foster trust, strengthen European cyber defence infrastructure, and mitigate risks associated with AI misuse.
The type of action under this topic is a Simple Grant with a funding rate of 50%, and the total budget available for the call DIGITAL-ECCC-2025-DEPLOY-CYBER-09-CYBERAI amounts to EUR 15 million.
For more information, visit EC.
