European companies are too dependent on international AI technology, according to the European Commission. That is why Brussels is freeing up 1 billion euros in the coming period to strengthen the position of artificial intelligence of European origin.
The money should be used to deploy more European AI technology in healthcare, Defense and within the energy sector. That is what European Commissioner Henna Virkkunen (Technology) said on Wednesday at the presentation of European plans for AI.
European companies can claim a small part of that 1 billion euros, to hire and retain employees who are specialized in AI. Experts told NU.nl earlier this year that it is sometimes difficult for European companies to compete with America. They already accused for more European investments to ensure that their own talent does not leave for another continent.
EU is freeing up 200 billion in the coming years
The initiative to free up 1 billion euros is part of a larger European project around AI. That project is called InvestAI and was announced in February of this year. With InvestAI, 200 billion euros must be invested in European AI in the coming years. Thanks to these investments, the EU must be able to compete better on the global AI market.
With that money, AI giga-factories must be set up, among other things. In those factories, AI models must be made and trained with hundreds of thousands of chips. That is four times more than is already happening in existing AI factories. It is not yet clear in which EU countries the factories will be located.
Ursula von der Leyen said at the announcement of the initiative that Europe has great ambitions when it comes to AI. “I too often hear that Europe is too late in the AI race and that the US and China are ahead,” said the EC President at the time. “I do not agree with that. The AI race is far from over.”