Portugal launches Amalia open‑source AI model as Europe pushes AI sovereignty

Portugal unveiled its first open‑source large‑language model, Amalia, on 1 July. Developed by a consortium of Portuguese universities and research institutes and funded with €5.5 million of EU recovery money, the model is intended as a base for public institutions, companies and researchers to build Portuguese‑language AI applications. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said the launch strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy and will boost productivity in sectors such as banking, insurance and public services.

The model, named after fado singer Amália Rodrigues, is released under an open‑source licence with 9 billion parameters and a roadmap toward a larger 22‑billion‑parameter version. Its creators stress three pillars of “sovereignty” – language, culture and data – and stress that the model is not a ChatGPT‑style chatbot but a foundation that can be extended for tasks like lesson planning, museum guides or government digital assistants.

At the same time, the ECB’s Sintra forum placed AI at the centre of discussions about financial stability. Central bankers, including ECB President Christine Lagarde, warned that AI could create new market‑making risks, “inflating bubbles at warp speed,” while also offering tools for credit analysis. Participants highlighted the challenge of supervising black‑box algorithms and the need for new regulatory frameworks.

Portugal’s prime minister also used the occasion to promote a culture of risk‑taking, urging “try and fail” rather than delay AI solutions, and highlighted the coordinated role of his deputy minister in digital transformation.