Europe is seeking to strengthen independent and reliable artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce its gap with the United States and China. Currently, if superiority in the field of artificial intelligence were an Olympic event, there would only be two serious competitors for the gold medal: the United States and China. In this context, Europe is clearly on the sidelines.
Need for Innovation and Growth
Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank, strongly emphasized the need for the European Union to innovate to enhance competitiveness in a report published in 2024. He stated that AI is "likely the most promising" path forward for Europe's current economic growth. However, he expressed concern about the EU's limited control over value chains, writing: "Being cut off from AI, when the economy is driven by it, would be like being cut off from the U.S. financial system, and the consequences would be catastrophic."
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International AI Summit in Dublin
Draghi was clearly present at the international AI summit hosted by the Irish government. This summit was held as part of Ireland's six-month rotating presidency of the European Union. The summit's slogan, "Harnessing AI to Revolutionize Europe's Competitiveness," clearly emphasized the importance of this issue.
Micheál Martin, the Prime Minister of Ireland, announced at the summit that Ireland is fully committed to developing AI and referenced Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, who described the technology as a "turning point." Martin also emphasized the EU's commitment to safety, stating: "We are determined to harness the benefits of this technology while reducing risks."
Meanwhile, Hanna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Technology Governance, Security, and Democracy, announced that the EU has begun its first executive actions under the new AI law and has requested information regarding safety and security from providers of advanced AI models.
However, many critics pointed to various issues such as the environmental impacts of data centers and potential job loss risks due to AI, which were less addressed in the summit discussions. Outside the summit venue, a group of protesters led by the leftist party "People Before Profit" criticized the summit for not focusing on these issues.
A sense of urgency was clearly felt in the speeches at the summit. Executives from major technology and AI companies spoke about Europe's potential. However, the EU still lags significantly behind the United States and China in AI development.
Despite increasing its data center capacity, Europe is still far behind the United States and China, holding only 5% of the world's AI computing capacity.
As part of its plan to catch up with the United States and China, the Irish government, in its role as host of the EU presidency, presented a policy document called the "Dublin Declaration" at the summit. This document includes political commitments to strengthen Europe's AI capabilities, including investment in infrastructure and financial support for European AI companies.
In light of Draghi's calls for developing European AI governance, particularly in supply chains and infrastructure, the declaration suggests that European companies reliant on non-EU cloud and computing services may face additional compliance pressures.
However, many doubt the EU's ability to increase AI capacity or develop effective regulations. Eddie Wilson, CEO of the European airline Ryanair, expressed skepticism that Brussels could effectively regulate AI without stifling innovation. He said: "The last thing you want is for people who know nothing about this industry to regulate it."
Wilson is also concerned that tech companies may leave Europe to advance in the United States or China. He stated: "If they are not going to do it here, they will do it somewhere else."
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