Europe has the potential to become a leading AI continent, and the European Commission is committed to making it happen. This was emphasized by President Ursula von der Leyen at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, addressing global political leaders and AI entrepreneurs.
President von der Leyen announced the InvestAI initiative, aiming to mobilize €200 billion for AI investments in Europe, alongside the European AI Champions Initiative. This collaboration involves European companies and investors.
The President also highlighted plans for AI Gigafactories, modeled after CERN in Geneva. She stated, “CERN hosts the largest particle accelerator, allowing the worlds best minds to collaborate. We aim for the same with AI Gigafactories, providing infrastructure for significant computational power. Researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors are invited to unite, welcoming global talents and industries to collaborate and federate their data.”
The AI Gigafactories will build on recent successes, leveraging Europes supercomputing capabilities for startups and scientists. President von der Leyen explained, “In a few months, we established 12 AI factories, investing €10 billion. This is not a promise; it is happening now, marking the largest public AI investment globally, expected to unlock tenfold private investment.”
This is part of what the President termed “Europes distinctive approach to AI,” characterized by cooperation, open source preference, and leveraging Europes industrial data and expertise.
She concluded by highlighting AIs potential benefits beyond Europe, particularly for the Global South: “AI can be a gift to humanity. We must ensure benefits are widespread and accessible to all. We aim for AI to be a force for good, with collaboration and benefits for everyone.”
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Speech by President von der Leyen at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit