On Wednesday 24 April, as part of a consultation procedure, MEPs adopted by 525 votes to 32, with 21 abstentions, the amendment to Regulation (EU) 2021/1173 concerning a EuroHPC initiative for start-ups, aimed at strengthening Europe’s leadership role in the field of trustworthy artificial intelligence. The draft report was submitted by Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP, Portuguese). EuroHPC is the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking.
The initiative was proposed by the European Commission on Wednesday 24 January (see EUROPE 13335/5). It aims to introduce a new objective for EuroHPC, which would enable the Joint Undertaking to carry out activities, in particular, in the field of upgrading or acquiring and operating supercomputers dedicated to AI in order to enable the rapid learning and training of trustworthy and ethical machines.
The initiative also aims to enable the Joint Undertaking to create a new mode of open access to its computing resources, particularly for AI start-ups and the scientific community.
In addition, a one-stop shop should be established by the joint undertaking.
Finally, the initiative introduces concerns about the environmental footprint of facilities. Hosting entities should have plans for energy efficiency and sustainability. These plans should ensure that the supercomputer has access to a secure and stable grid connection and electricity supply, preferably based on clean and affordable energy, the adopted text stresses.
Link to the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/bzh (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)