Italy's Domyn to launch open source frontier AI model within a year, CEO says

• The model will exceed 400 billion parameters, ranking among the largest open-source AI systems, and be fully reproducible for governments and companies to run on their own infrastructure at no cost
• European Commission support grants Domyn access to the EuroHPC public supercomputing network, which CEO Sharka describes as an underappreciated strategic asset that eliminates need for massive infrastructure spending
• CEO Sharka expects first government data-sharing agreements within weeks following meetings with EU heads of state, as Domyn gathers institutional data for training

Summary: Italy's Domyn to Launch Open-Source Frontier AI Model

Key Development:

Italian AI firm Domyn plans to release a fully open-source frontier AI model within one year, positioning itself as a European alternative to U.S. and Chinese AI systems. The model will exceed 400 billion parameters and be trained from scratch, ranking among the largest open-source AI models to date.

Strategic Context:

The initiative comes as Europe seeks to reduce dependence on foreign-hosted AI systems amid concerns over U.S. restrictions on Anthropic's models and the dominance of Chinese firms like DeepSeek and Alibaba's Qwen in the open-source space. France and Germany have restricted remote use of DeepSeek's models while permitting local deployments.

Company Background:

Domyn, formerly iGenius, was founded in Milan in 2016 and specializes in AI models for regulated sectors including finance, government, and heavy industry. The company is backed by Abu Dhabi's G42, Eurizon Capital, Rabobank, and BNY, though specific funding amounts were not disclosed.

Competitive Position:

The project places Domyn alongside France's Mistral and OVHcloud in Europe's AI landscape. Domyn's EUROPA consortium, established with Germany's Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft research lab, was selected under the European Commission's Frontier AI Grand Challenge.

Infrastructure Advantage:

CEO Uljan Sharka emphasized that European Commission support provides access to the EuroHPC public supercomputing network, which he called an "underappreciated strategic asset." The model will be fully open-source and reproducible, allowing free deployment on local infrastructure.

Near-term Plans:

Sharka expects government data-sharing agreements within weeks following meetings with EU leaders, enabling institutional data partnerships for model training.