In the face of American trade tariffs shaking up the market, the European Commission is getting ready to roll out a game-changing plan to make AI regulations more appealing to businesses. Set to be announced this Wednesday, the “AI Continent” initiative is all about simplifying the current rules and tackling the hurdles that European companies face when competing with the U.S. and China.
This move is a response to feedback from major tech players and AI experts who have voiced concerns about the EU’s AI Act. Insights from former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on European competitiveness and priorities from Ursula von der Leyen highlight these industry worries. At a recent AI conference in Paris, Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s tech leader, stressed the importance of creating an “innovation-friendly” regulatory environment.
The draft strategy is designed to ease the compliance burden of the AI Act. Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s Vice President for Global Affairs, emphasized the importance of having “simple and predictable” regulations during a recent visit to Brussels, showing the industry’s keen interest in the upcoming announcement.
While there’s a shift towards embracing AI, only 13% of European companies have adopted AI technologies. Lehane is pushing for the development of AI infrastructure and workforce retraining across Europe. OpenAI has ambitious plans, including a 300% increase in computing power by 2030 and equipping 100 million Europeans with AI skills, alongside a proposed €1 billion fund for pilot AI projects.
The EU is also planning to gather industry input on regulatory hurdles to AI development. The draft outlines initiatives to boost computing power, improve data quality, and increase AI adoption. Progress is expected in setting up five “AI gigafactories,” a €20 billion initiative announced by Commission President Von der Leyen at the Paris AI Action Summit. These gigafactories are meant to train advanced AI models, far surpassing the capabilities of today’s supercomputers.
Additionally, the Commission aims to expand Europe’s cloud and data center infrastructure, with plans to triple capacity within five to seven years. The draft points out the strategic concern of relying on non-EU infrastructure, particularly from American giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.
