Ursula von der Leyen: We are mobilizing euro200 billion for the development of artificial intelligence

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, announced yesterday, at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, the launch of InvestAI, an initiative designed to mobilize euro200 billion of public and private funds for investment in artificial intelligence (AI). This fund will also include the creation of a new European fund of euro20 billion, dedicated to giant AI factories, essential infrastructure for the development of the most complex artificial intelligence models. The aim of this initiative is to transform Europe into a global leader in the field of AI, through open and collaborative development.

Ursula von der Leyen stated: "Artificial intelligence will improve our health systems, stimulate research and innovation and increase Europe's competitiveness. We want AI to be a force for good and economic growth. We are doing this through a European approach of our own - based on openness, cooperation and excellent talent. But this approach needs to be accelerated. That is why, together with our Member States and partners, we will mobilise unprecedented capital through InvestAI for European AI superfactories. This unique public-private partnership, similar to CERN for AI, will enable all scientists and companies - not just the largest - to develop the most advanced AI models. This will make Europe a true AI continent."

European Investment Bank (EIB) President Nadia Calvino, speaking at the event in Paris, said: "Together with the European Commission, the EIB Group is stepping up its support for artificial intelligence, a key driver of innovation and productivity in Europe."

In this context, the European Union aims to strengthen its processing capacity and create a state-of-the-art infrastructure so that AI innovations are accessible to all economic and scientific actors.

The InvestAI fund will finance the construction of four AI superfactories across the European Union. These centers will specialize in training the most complex artificial intelligence models, which require extremely advanced computing infrastructure to achieve progress in areas such as medicine, exact sciences and high-tech industry. The four factories will include around 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, which is four times more than the centers currently in place. Thus, they will become the largest facilities of this type in the world, allowing the development of safe and reliable AI models that comply with European standards.

According to Ursula von der Leyen, InvestAI will become the largest public-private partnership for AI in the world, based on an open and collaborative innovation model. One of the key objectives is that any company, not just industry giants, can have access to large-scale computational resources to develop future AI models. InvestAI will be structured as a layered fund, with different levels of risk and return, to attract and secure private investment. The EU budget will be used to reduce risks for private investors, and the initial funds will come from existing programmes such as the Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe and InvestEU. Member States will also be able to redirect funds from cohesion envelopes to support this initiative.

This initiative complements the AI Factories announced in December, which already benefit from euro10 billion in financial support, co-financed by the EU and Member States. This programme has already enabled widespread access to supercomputers for start-ups and innovative industries. The initial investment is expected to attract more than ten times more private capital, creating a robust and competitive AI ecosystem.

• Other EU measures to support AI

In parallel with InvestAI, the European Commission has announced a number of complementary measures to boost the development of artificial intelligence in Europe, including: additional funding through Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe Programme for generative AI; training and reskilling initiatives to develop AI skills in the EU; incentives for private investment in AI start-ups and scale-ups; the development and implementation of common European data spaces, essential for training AI models; the GenAI4EU initiative, designed to support the development of AI applications in 14 European industrial ecosystems, such as health, biotechnology, manufacturing, mobility, climate change and virtual reality; the creation of a European AI Research Council, which will coordinate research resources and explore ways to use data for AI development; the launch of the "Apply AI" initiative, designed to accelerate the adoption artificial intelligence in key industrial sectors.

By launching this vast program, the European Union is trying to keep pace with other leaders in the development of artificial intelligence, strengthening its position on the global stage. The 200 billion euro investment will facilitate the creation of a strong, open and collaborative infrastructure, allowing European researchers and companies to compete at the highest level. According to European officials, the EU is committed to becoming an AI-dedicated area, where innovation and competitiveness are accessible to all economic actors.