AI Mills builds AI factory in the Netherlands: 'Reducing dependency on the US and China'

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us, but it almost always runs on foreign infrastructure, mainly in the US and China. Entrepreneur Ries Deijkers wants to change that. Together with investment partner TFH Holland Group, he is building an AI infrastructure with AI Mills that is 100% Dutch-owned. “Scalable, sustainable, and entirely on home soil.”

Ries Deijkers has earned his stripes in the tech world. Since 1999, he has been active as an independent entrepreneur in internet companies. In 2017, he focused his company Chatbots.expert on Artificial Intelligence, which helps major clients like KLM and BAM optimize business processes.

From Internet Entrepreneur to AI Pioneer

During a trip to China, the AI spark ignited. Deijkers: "I saw there how deeply AI was already integrated into daily life: from taxis and reservations to communication with governments through automated chatbots. Back in the Netherlands, we transformed our company into an AI company and began developing our own AI platforms."

Ries Deijkers, internet entrepreneur and owner of AI Mills

Why the Netherlands is Lagging Behind

Although AI developed quickly, the Netherlands has invested little in it. "This was mainly due to geopolitical reasons," Deijkers explains. "For a long time, we had good relations with the US and saw no need to organize it sovereignly." The situation has now changed due to geopolitical tensions and European regulations such as GDPR. "Companies want to know where their data is stored. For many companies, storing data in foreign clouds like those of Microsoft, Amazon, or Google is no longer an option."

When Nick Jacobs, owner of TFH Holland Group with whom he already collaborates at Chatbots.expert, asked Deijkers what he needed to do his job better, he didn't have to think long. "An AI server solution in the Netherlands. For our clients, working with parties like OpenAI is often no longer an option because their data would automatically go to the US.”

AI Mills: Sovereign AI Factory

What started as a practical need grew into AI Mills. "Mills have brought much prosperity to the Netherlands," says Deijkers. "With AI, we want to support the next wave of prosperity.” This ambition is taking shape in what is to become the Netherlands' first sovereign AI factory. One central location proved unfeasible due to the high energy consumption of AI. “That's why we are building a network of modular AI factories in sea containers spread throughout the Netherlands. Each location uses about one megawatt of power, but together they function as one big AI factory. For clients, it feels like a single system, where their data remains fully in the Netherlands."

Sustainable and Flexible

Sustainability plays an important role within AI Mills. The containers are placed in locations with energy surpluses, such as wind and solar farms on agricultural land. Deijkers: "The containers are movable and we set them up where there is a long-term energy surplus. When the sun shines brightly and the wind blows hard, we can decide to run additional AI workloads to relieve the pressure on the energy grid."

AI as a Library

AI Mills makes AI accessible for companies. "They can purchase GPU capacity per hour and also utilize AI as a service, completely sovereign," says Deijkers. This means that AI Mills is not only a factory where you can run AI workloads, but it is essentially also a kind of library. "You borrow what you need and pay only for that. A supermarket that wants to predict purchasing behavior for the next week, for instance, no longer needs to build an expensive AI tool itself but can adapt an existing model from the AI Mills library to its own situation. This way, we make AI fast, affordable, and scalable." With AI Mills, the entrepreneur aims to form a hub for innovation where companies, startups, universities, and hospitals collaborate on smart solutions.

Ambition and Collaboration

Within two years, AI Mills aims to roll out to about twenty locations. "To make it technically and organizationally viable, a lot of capital is needed,” he says. To achieve this growth, they are collaborating with investment company TFH Holland Group. "We were already working together at my other company Chatbots.expert, and it works well."
 
Jorieke de Vries-Goosen, Commercial Director at TFH Holland Group, explains why they find investing in companies like AI Mills so important: "In the Netherlands, there is little venture capital for AI. Many companies want to, but simply can't secure the start-up capital. That is one of the reasons why we are lagging behind countries like the US and China in AI. By investing in AI Mills, we break that barrier." TFH Holland Group is soon setting up a new fund, aimed at innovative companies with social impact, where AI Mills plays a key role.

Jorieke de Vries-Goosen, Commercial Director at TFH Holland Group

Strategic Fit and Impact

AI perfectly fits within the vision of TFH Holland Group, according to De Vries: investing in future-proof sectors with a societal impact: technology, food, and healthcare. "AI Mills makes the Netherlands technologically more independent and more sustainable. At the same time, our other companies can benefit from the AI solutions developed here. In this way, we are building an independent AI infrastructure and making ourselves less dependent on other countries." According to her, this ambition seamlessly aligns with a tradition for which we Dutch are known: innovation and ingenuity. "We have grown large through our dikes and windmills. With AI Mills, we are putting the Netherlands back on the map as a country that excels in discovery and innovation."

More than Financing

In conclusion, Deijkers emphasizes that the value of collaborating with TFH Holland Group goes beyond capital. "If you build a company on your own, you sometimes get tunnel vision. Thanks to TFH Holland Group, I can spar at a strategic level and rely on the knowledge and skills of a network of entrepreneurs. That is very valuable." His advice to other entrepreneurs? "Build a network that you know you can rely on. Look beyond the euros, as that will help you make your company a success!"