European Union wants to boost in Artificial Inteligence

Today, February 11th, at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris that began yesterday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an initiative to transform the European Union (EU) into one of the leading regions in Artificial Intelligence (AI). To achieve this goal, the EU will invest 200 billion euros in a project called InvestAI.

This program also includes funds for the construction of new AI hubs and infrastructure across the EU. One of these seven AI factories will be located at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación sharing space with one of the biggest supercomputers in the world.

This commitment aims not only to be competitive with the United States (USA) and China in terms of AI development but also to improve healthcare and drive new innovation, as Von der Leyen explains. She also adds, “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,” showcasing how competent Europe can be.

The AI race is just beginning

We are undoubtedly in a time of change, with key factors such as new regulations, investments, and the emergence of new competitors like SeekDeep, which directly challenges the well-known ChatGPT. This is an economic and energy race in which the USA’s vice president, JD Vance, acknowledges the need to secure more energy resources while declaring the desire to maintain their advantage in this area. However, the EU is not holding back with the new program, as Von der Leyen explains: “AI needs competition, but AI also needs collaboration, and AI needs the confidence of the people, and has to be safe (…) We want AI to be a force for good. We want an AI where everyone collaborates and everyone benefits.” Something that the new Barcelona’s AI factory will make it for sure attracting talent by empowering small and medium-sized companies to use the full potential of AI.

For the politicians attending the event, AI symbolizes a new economic model with significant implications for the business market, healthcare, and education—something the French authorities have called the “European awakening.”