BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is offering 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) in funding for firms to erect seven AI gigafactories as it seeks to close the AI gap with U.S. and China, the 27-nation bloc’s executive said on Thursday.The European Commission said it would like the public financing to draw an additional 20 billion euros ($22.8 billion) in private investment. “Access to the raw scale of computing power within AI gigafactories is a strategic necessity for Europe as AI development accelerates,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission executive vice president overseeing tech sovereignty. The efforts by Brussels to establish…