According to the report, the European Commission recently announced the "AI Continent Action Plan", which aims to transform Europe's strong traditional industries and outstanding talents into a strong driving force for AI innovation and development, and make every effort to promote Europe to become an "AI continent", so as to enhance its competitiveness in the global artificial intelligence field and narrow the gap with the United States and China.
In this plan, the EU has taken a number of key initiatives. On the one hand, we are committed to building a network of AI factories and "super factories", and at the same time set up specialized laboratories. These "factories" are equipped with state-of-the-art chips needed to train and develop advanced AI models, while labs are designed to help start-ups access high-quality training data and build the infrastructure for the AI industry. On the other hand, the EU will also set up an AI Act Helpdesk, whose main role is to help businesses in the region comply with landmark AI laws. The European Commission believes that the AI Act will strengthen people's trust in technology, provide legal protection for investors and entrepreneurs, and promote the large-scale adoption of AI in Europe, and the help desk will be a central hub for information and guidance on relevant rules.
However, the EU's path to AI development has not been easy. At present, the EU is facing a lot of criticism from the tech community. Many tech leaders have pointed out that a series of EU rules, from AI regulation to tax policy, hinder innovation and make it more difficult for start-ups to operate in the region. Among them, the AI Act has been highly controversial. In recent years, the law, which regulates the level of risk to society based on AI applications, has been extended to "base model" manufacturers such as OpenAI and Mistral, causing dissatisfaction among some companies.
Figure: The European Union pushes the "AI Continent" plan: simplifying the rules and accelerating the development of the AI industry (Source: CNBC)
The EU's "AI Continent" plan aims to improve the EU's AI capabilities in all aspects, but it faces challenges in terms of resources, technology, talents, and supervision in the process of implementation, and if these challenges cannot be effectively addressed, it will affect the progress of the plan and the realization of its goals. For example, despite the ambitious plan, there is a lack of financial support. In terms of building AI factories and "gigafactories", only 10% of the €200 billion InvestAI initiative is new funding for AI gigafactories, and the remaining 90% relies on existing digital funds and public-private partnerships, which are questionable to meet the needs of the program.
At this year's Global AI Summit in Paris, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehan, said that political and business leaders in Europe are increasingly concerned about missing out on opportunities for AI development, and expect regulators to pay less attention to technology risks. The U.S. government has also criticized the European Union's treatment of U.S. tech giants and AI start-ups. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stressed at the summit that he hopes Europe will take a more positive view of the emerging field of AI.
John Biles, global head of AI at Osborne & Clark Law Firm, pointed out that the EU's move aims to reduce the regulatory burden and remove barriers to innovation, and if the uncertainty about the interpretation of the AI Act can be effectively resolved, it will not only benefit AI developers and users in the EU, but also relevant practitioners in the UK and the US, as the law applies to all AI technologies used in the EU, regardless of origin.
The EU's "AI Continent Action Plan" is an important attempt to catch up in the field of AI, and although it faces many challenges, it also brings new opportunities for the development of the European AI industry, and its implementation effect is worth paying attention to in the future.
