At the AI Summit in Paris (see EUROPE 13576/4), 60 major European companies announced an alliance to make the EU a “global leader” in artificial intelligence (AI).
This initiative, which brings together several major industrial groups (Airbus, L'Oréal, Mercedes, Siemens, etc.) and technological ones (Spotify, Mistral AI, etc.), aims to “accelerate Europe’s AI momentum by coordinating efforts across technology, industry, capital, and policy”, according to the press release.
The signatories express the need to “unlock Europe’s full potential” in AI, including a major regulatory simplification drive “to create a drastically simplified (...) framework”.
An “ambitious agenda” for the development of AI in Europe accompanies the launch of the initiative and highlights the uses of AI in a range of sectors, from healthcare to financial services.
At European level, the Commission is expected to propose a first regulatory simplification package with three ‘omnibus’ initiatives planned in 2025, although none are directly related to AI at this stage (see EUROPE 13573/17).
The European Commissioner responsible for new technologies, Henna Virkkunen, has embraced the ambition of making the EU the “continent of artificial intelligence”, and has already begun setting up several major “AI factories” (see EUROPE 13542/13).
Called the ‘EU AI Champions Initiative’, the alliance was presented the same day at the Elysée Palace to the French President, Emmanuel Macron, along with 15 other European heads of state or government and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
See the initiative: https://aeur.eu/f/ffe (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)