PARIS, Feb 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - EU chief Ursula von der Leyen Tuesday
announced a push to channel 200 billion euros in public and private
investments into Europe's nascent artificial intelligence industry.

"We aim to mobilise a total of 200 billion euros for AI investments in
Europe," the European Commission president told a Paris AI summit, saying the
EU would contribute 50 billion euros with the rest pledged by "providers,
investors and industry."

Europe faces an uphill challenge as the United States and China charge ahead
in the AI field, but von der Leyen insisted "the AI race is far from over".

"We want to accelerate innovation," she told the gathering of leaders and
tech executives, declaring that "global leadership is still up for grabs".

The EU investment push would include 20 billion euros to finance four AI
gigafactories, "to allow open, collaborative development of the most complex
AI models," a commission statement said.

The initial EU funding will be drawn from existing programmes with a digital
component.

Von der Leyen said the European funds would "top up" pledges announced Monday
by a group of more than 60 European companies such as Airbus, Volkswagen and
Mistral AI.

The firms said they aimed to stimulate the emergence of new companies, with
150 billion euros "earmarked" by international investors for AI-related
opportunities in Europe over five years as part of the "EU AI Champions
Initiative".

Von der Leyen also announced that the EU would be putting its public
supercomputers "at the service of our best startups and scientists."

"We want AI to be a force for good," she said. "AI needs competition, but AI
also needs collaboration."

The EU chief took the stage in Paris immediately after US Vice President JD
Vance who took aim at the bloc in warning that "excessive regulation" could
kill the emerging AI sector.

"AI needs the confidence of people and has to be safe," von der Leyen said,
in defending the bloc's landmark AI Act regulating the technology -- which
includes curbs on uses deemed too dangerous.

"Safety is in the interest of business," said the EU chief, while also
acknowledging that "we have to make it easier, we have to cut red tape".