EU Launches €200B AI Investment Drive | CIO Africa
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently unveiled the InvestAI initiative, a €200 billion project aimed at bolstering Europe's artificial intelligence sector. This initiative was announced at the AI Action Summit in Paris, where von der Leyen revealed plans for a dedicated €20 billion European fund for AI gigafactories. The goal is to position Europe as a prominent player in the global AI landscape.
Global AI Competition
This move by the European Commission comes on the heels of US President Donald Trump's announcement of a $500 billion investment by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle to establish Stargate, a new AI company focusing on expanding AI infrastructure in the United States. Trump described this as the most extensive AI infrastructure project to date, underlining the escalating competition among major world powers in the field of AI development.
Transformative Impact of AI
Von der Leyen emphasized the far-reaching impact of AI across various industries, stating, "AI will improve healthcare, drive research and innovation, and boost competitiveness. We want AI to be a force for good and for growth." The InvestAI initiative aims to mobilize significant capital to ensure that advancements in AI are accessible to scientists and businesses of all sizes, not just major corporations.
InvestAI Objectives
InvestAI will facilitate the establishment of four AI gigafactories across the EU. These facilities will be dedicated to training highly advanced AI models that require substantial computational resources. Each gigafactory will house 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, quadrupling the capacity of existing AI factories worldwide.
Establishing an AI Ecosystem
With InvestAI, the European Commission aims to create a collaborative and open AI ecosystem, ensuring that European companies, regardless of their size, have access to the computing power necessary for innovation and global competitiveness.
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