The European Commission on Wednesday presented a plan to help boost the uptake of artificial intelligence by companies.
The so-called AI Continent Action Plan covers infrastructure, data access, cloud, skills and simplification, and aims to transform Europe’s traditional industries into “powerful engines of AI innovation and acceleration”, as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in February in Paris.
It’s important “to build capacities in critical sectors” to ensure that the bloc is not dependent on other regions, EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters during the launch.
“We have identified AI as one of the sectors where we need to build our own capacity, like quantum and chips. They are key technologies for the future,” Virkkunen said.
When it comes to chips used for the development of AI tools, Virkkunen said that the EU has a “good partnership” with the US.
“We are willing to buy, but we need our own capacities. That is also why we are working on a Chips Act 2.0.,” she added.
She declined to comment when asked whether the tech sector will be affected by tariffs in the ongoing trade spat between the EU and the US.
Companies are invited to share feedback until June on several of these strategies via a public consultation on the Cloud and AI Development Act, and the Apply AI strategy, aiming to identify challenges to the uptake of AI.
Credit:EURONEWS