EU looks to gain traction in AI race

CGTN Europe

The European Union is positioning itself as an emerging force in the field of artificial intelligence.   European Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen, says the EU needs more investment to drive innovation.   CGTN’s William Denselow reports.

Transcript

00:00The race for AI dominance is well underway, and the European Union is seeking to both

00:06compete and define the rules of the game. A part of the EU's landmark AI Act is now

00:12in effect. Applications deemed to pose an unacceptable risk are now prohibited. For

00:18software developer Sigley, the landmark legislation can provide a helpful framework as the technology

00:25continues to develop. I believe that that can birth a lot of interesting companies that

00:32are focused on solving real challenges. But will they become as big, as profitable, as

00:41ginormous as the US? Probably not. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

00:48says the bloc is lagging behind when it comes to innovation and investment, and is looking

00:53to play catch-up. To help bridge the gap, the EU's planned to spend over $1.5 billion

01:00on supercomputers, aimed at helping European start-ups train their AI models. The hope

01:07is that the AI summit in Paris will help showcase Europe's AI credentials. It shows that on

01:15the one hand, the EU is determined to promote AI and to support European players on the

01:24AI sector, and at the same time to ensure that we have an AI which is human-centric.

01:31Rules for general purpose AI models come into effect in August, with the AI Act set to fully

01:37take effect the following year. While much could depend on how the rules are implemented,

01:42Commissioners hope that developers in Europe won't be put off by the fear of red tape.

01:47There's certainly lots of things to do in terms of making AI more useful, I think. And

01:53maybe that's the next goal, rather than just making it faster, stronger, and more and more

01:56compute behind it. Maybe the next goal is to make it useful and actually deploy it in

02:01sensible ways. Commission officials say they want Europe to

02:05become an AI continent. While some US tech giants say regulation is a step in the wrong

02:10direction, the EU is hopeful that it's on the right path.

02:14William Denslow, CGTN, Brussels.

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