As the AI Summit took place in Paris on Monday, it helps around 60 European companies, from incumbent industrial giants to AI startups (including French large-scale language model maker Mistral), establish Europe as AI leaders I have signed up for the initiative. However, the fact that they felt the need to sign up all underscores the widely held view that Europe is not as close to AI leaders in the current situation.
The EU AI Champions Initiative will be announced at Elisé as part of the AI Action Summit in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also be taking part in the discussion. The attendees will be heads of state for various European governments, including Germany, Poland and Ireland, but not the United States or the United Kingdom.
Perhaps intuitively, this initiative is led by the European arm of US VCs, a general catalyst, driven by the idea that European approaches to AI are overly complicated and dragged by regulations. It’s there.
Catalyst’s European Managing Director and Principal Jeannette Zu Fürstenberg told TechCrunch that established companies and startups have collaborated with “leaning towards AI adoption.”
“This is a huge opportunity for the European high-tech ecosystem,” she continued. “We want to accelerate the functional ‘flywheel’ between innovators, startups and AI adopters. ”
She said the initiative will involve the committee “in a structural process on how we can decouple.” Industrial or banking sector… as well as the AI law, and the nature of its overall horizontality. It is not standardized. ”
The EU president has streamlined the rules for the bloc to promote AI innovation, and European innovation laws are planned. This would like to include clearer ecosystem support, including measures to reduce the deficit for AI developers. Measures (such as access to funds).
“For example, in the banking industry and financial services sector, there are three different regulatory bodies that often contradict each other. It slows down the actual adoption of AI,” ZuFürstenberg argued.
When asked if she thinks the EU champions are effectively criticizing the bloc, she said: Many of the conflicts we are experiencing today are not intended. That’s why we connect people in the field with regulators. ”
In a statement of support, Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral AI, wrote: The time for discussion and small pilots is over. It is important that European policymakers, industry leaders and startups fully utilize the possibilities of AI. ”
Christophe Fouquet, president and CEO of Chipmaker ASML, also provided a canned comment, writing: The EU AI Champions initiative represents an important step in uniting industry leaders to ensure Europe remains at the forefront of AI-led progress. ”
In another statement, Robin Rombach, co-founder of Black Forest Labs, added: We believe in Europe’s ability to remain a global leader in AI, and support initiatives that accelerate Europe’s efforts in open innovation and cutting-edge technology. ”
As part of its initiative, General Catalyst has published a report entitled “An Ambitious Agenda for European AI.” This suggests that the adoption of generator AI can increase annual productivity in Europe by 2030 by up to 3%.
Commenting on TechCrunch to Steve Schlenker, a partner at DN Capital in London, he said, “The success of AI strategies in Europe is not about regulations for regulation, but rather that the average EU citizen can improve their lives. It’s about making sure you’re watching.”
Ziv Reichert, a partner at Phoenix Court, is also home to LocalGlobe and Latitude Funds. As an early stage investor, I am increasingly worried that these conversations have founders and startups left.
Check out the full coverage of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris.