The European Union (EU) has announced a commitment of €200 billion to boost development of artificial intelligence (AI).
In a public statement at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit in Paris, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the new funding to accelerate AI in the EU.
“AI will improve our healthcare, spur our research and innovation and boost our competitiveness. We want AI to be a force for good and for growth. We are doing this through our own European approach – based on openness, cooperation and excellent talent. But our approach still needs to be supercharged. This is why, together with our Member States and with our partners, we will mobilise unprecedented capital through InvestAI for European AI gigafactories. This unique public-private partnership, akin to a CERN for AI, will enable all our scientists and companies – not just the biggest – to develop the most advanced very large models needed to make Europe an AI continent,” said von der Leyen.
The investment includes €20 billion for AI gigafactories.
Funded through the InvestAI Fund announced today, the new AI gigafactories are expected to be home to around “100,000 last-generation AI chips, around four times more than the AI factories being set up right now.”
The goal is said to be to provide access to large-scale computing power not only to big firms but all companies.
The Commission noted that it has already announced the initial seven AI factories and will soon announce the next five.
President of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calviño, said:
“Together with the EU Commission, the EIB Group is stepping up support for Artificial Intelligence, a key driver of innovation and productivity in Europe.”
The EU did not comment on the need to increase energy usage to power massive gigafactories. Europe has struggled with electricity generation due to net zero goals and the closure of some nuclear power plants.
While the EU is pursuing a more government-led mission, in the US, much of the AI development is pursued by the private sector.
