What is Project Amalia?
Amalia is a new, government-backed large language model (LLM) designed specifically for European Portuguese. Launched in early July 2026, it represents Portugal's major push for 'AI sovereignty'—developing its own artificial intelligence capabilities
to reduce reliance on foreign technology, primarily from the US. The project was developed by a consortium of Portuguese universities and research institutions, backed by €5.5 million in EU recovery funds. The name is a nod to the famed fado singer Amália Rodrigues, a cultural icon in Portugal, and also an acronym for Automatic Multimodal Language Assistant with Artificial Intelligence. Unlike consumer chatbots, Amalia is not intended for direct public use. Instead, it serves as a foundational platform for public institutions and companies to build their own specialized AI applications. Because it is open-source, its code is available for anyone to inspect, adapt, and build upon, which is crucial for secure applications in government and defence.
AI as a Naval Co-Pilot
One of the most significant planned uses for Amalia is to create advanced decision-support tools for the Portuguese Navy. In modern naval warfare, commanders are flooded with a constant stream of data from radar, sonar, drones, and intelligence reports. A decision-support tool powered by an AI like Amalia would help process this information overload in real time. It could identify threats, suggest optimal routes, manage logistics, and provide critical information from technical manuals in moments. Researchers at NOVA University in Lisbon have already been collaborating with the Navy on a prototype assistant nicknamed the 'silicon midshipman'. The vision, as described by naval officials, is a symbiotic relationship where 'human sailors' handle tasks requiring ethics and empathy, while 'silicon sailors' manage tasks that are repetitive, dangerous, or data-intensive. The system has already been demonstrated in NATO exercises, where it answered questions based on naval publications and live video feeds from drones.
The Strategic Imperative for Portugal
For the Portuguese Navy, adopting AI is not just a technological upgrade; it's a strategic necessity. Portugal has a vast maritime area of responsibility in the Atlantic and plays a key role in NATO's southern flank. However, like many mid-sized European powers, its navy faces budget constraints while needing to keep pace with rapid technological change. Integrating AI and automation offers a way to enhance the capabilities of its existing fleet and personnel, making them more effective without a proportional increase in cost. The development of Amalia is part of a broader European push for strategic autonomy, with leaders like Prime Minister Luís Montenegro stating that Europe's future is inextricably tied to AI. By building its own sovereign AI, Portugal ensures its defence systems are not dependent on foreign platforms and are tailored to its specific linguistic and operational needs.
Challenges and the Road Ahead
The path to integrating a new AI like Amalia into critical defence operations is filled with challenges. The primary concern is ensuring the system is reliable, secure, and auditable—you cannot have a 'black box' making life-or-death recommendations without human oversight. The 'human-in-the-loop' principle remains paramount. The open-source nature of Amalia is a significant advantage here, as it allows naval experts to understand and verify how the system works. Furthermore, the AI model was not built from scratch but is an advancement of a European foundation model, enhanced with Portuguese datasets and with access to powerful supercomputers like Deucalion and MareNostrum 5 to ensure robust performance. The success of Amalia in the naval sphere will be a crucial test case. It will depend on whether the platform can move from a promising research project to a trusted and indispensable tool for sailors and their commanders on the high seas.
