J.D. Vance, the American vice president, put the "i" points in early February, at the closing of the AI summit held in Paris. Donald Trump's right-hand man castigated the "excessive regulation" of the AI sector, which could "kill a transformative industry just as it is taking off." This "new industrial revolution" will not happen "if excessive regulation discourages (...) taking the risks necessary to move things forward".
This speech, accompanied by very clear threats to the EU, aimed first and foremost to protect the American AI industry, the only one entitled in J.D. Vance's eyes to dominate the world. However, it had the merit of sounding the alarm within the Commission. Disaster adjustments have already been made, but the EU is now living under the regime of the AI Act, which came into force into force last year. The text imposes transparency and governance obligations on AI developers, and categorizes AI according to its danger to society.
After the stick, the carrot. The Commission presented today a battery of measures in favor of AI grouped under the banner "AI Continent Action Plan". The EU wants to set up a network of "AI Factories" around European supercomputers (13 already deployed) and launch a call for "AI Gigafactories" equipped with 100,000 AI chips to train "next-generation" models. 20 billion euros are being mobilized for this last project.
The initiative also seeks to develop an "internal data market" providing access to "massive and high-quality data". The Apply AI strategy aims to increase the adoption of AI in strategic public and private sectors. Scholarships and the AI Skills Academy will facilitate the international recruitment of talent and the repatriation of European researchers.
Finally, the Commission is talking about regulatory simplification through the implementation of the AI Act and the launch of a compliance support window for businesses. All these measures will be the subject of public consultations until June.
During this same Paris summit, the EU had already set up a €200 billion envelope as part of the InvestAI program. The general idea is to make the European continent a "world leader in artificial intelligence," as Henna Virkkunen, the Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty, explains.
"This means a stronger economy, major advances in healthcare, new jobs, increased productivity, better transport and education, stronger protection against cyber threats, as well as support in the fight against climate change," she says. A pious wish for the moment because for the moment the EU is mainly the target of criticism for its regulations.
Source: European Commission
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