Portugal launches Amalia to support AI sovereignty

Portugal has launched Amalia, its first open-source AI foundation model, as part of a broader European effort to strengthen technological sovereignty and reduce reliance on U.S. providers. The model was developed by a consortium of Portuguese universities and research institutions with government backing and EU recovery funding.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said Europe’s strategic autonomy is increasingly tied to AI, and said Amalia would support productivity in public and private sectors such as banking, insurance, telecommunications and industry while maintaining security. The model is not designed as a consumer product; it is intended as base technology for public bodies, companies, universities and researchers to build tailored applications.

Amalia is released under an open-source licence along with its training dataset and source code. Early uses include a virtual guide for Portuguese museums, decision-support tools for the Portuguese Navy, an AI teaching assistant for lesson planning and a digital assistant for state services. The project also draws on Portugal’s high-performance computing investments, including access to the Deucalion and MareNostrum 5 supercomputers.