Europe bets big on AI with £180bn InvestAI initiative
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday at the artificial intelligence summit in Paris the launch of a new initiative, InvestAI, aiming to mobilise £180 billion for investments in AI, including the creation of a new EU fund worth £18 billion for four AI gigafactories.
- The AI race is just beginning - the President of the EC argued, rejecting claims that Europe is lagging in this race. She emphasised that Europe's strength lies in its scientific achievements, and European AI is based on collaboration and attracts talent from various countries. She also highlighted the development of European start-ups.
The EU's InvestAI fund will finance four artificial intelligence gigafactories within the EU. As von der Leyen assured, such large infrastructure is needed to enable the development of "the most complex artificial intelligence models".
The politician announced that, in collaboration with member states and partners, an unprecedented level of investment will be directed through InvestAI to establish AI gigafactories in Europe. This public-private initiative, comparable to CERN but focused on artificial intelligence, aims to provide all scientists and businesses—not just major corporations—with the resources needed to develop cutting-edge large-scale AI models, positioning Europe as a global leader in the field.
Gigafactories funded by InvestAI are to serve, among others, the EU industrial sector and those responsible for critical infrastructure. Every company - not just the largest players - should gain access to significant computing power to invest in their development.
The new "arms race" in the world
At the end of January, the Bank of China presented the "Action Plan for Promoting the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Chain". Over the next five years, the bank will allocate at least £115 billion to provide financial support to entities in the AI industry.
Piotr Sankowski from the University of Warsaw noted on LinkedIn the "arms race" in the AI industry between China and the USA. "The Chinese plan was announced immediately after the USA announced £400 billion for the Stargate project. It sounds like a new arms race, where EU expenditures on AI seem negligible because what does the recently announced plan to spend £1.4 billion on AI Factories mean," he noted.
Remember that President Donald Trump and the heads of Japan's Softbank, Oracle Corporation, and OpenAI announced the Stargate project at the White House. The giants will invest up to £400 billion in building data centres and the architecture needed to develop artificial intelligence.
As Trump said during a speech at the White House, company heads decided to form a joint venture that will invest at least £80 billion and, in the longer term, up to £400 billion over four years in building data centres in America and contribute to the creation of 100,000 jobs.
