EU Plans Comprehensive AI Strategy to Boost Global Competitiveness
Brussels: The EU is embarking on a new course for the development of artificial intelligence in an attempt to make up ground in a race considered far from over in Brussels. The European Commission has presented an action plan to make Europe a world leader in AI, which includes the creation of AI gigafactories in Europe that will integrate enormous computing power and data centers to train and develop complex AI models on an unprecedented scale.
According to Ansa News Agency, the Berlaymont Palace also intends to stimulate private sector investment in cloud and data center capacity, proposing in the coming months a law on the development of cloud and AI that aims to “triple the capacity of EU data centers in the next five to seven years”. In addition to strengthening the data and computing infrastructure for large-scale AI, the plan also includes initiatives to increase access to large, high-quality data, develop algorithms and promote the adoption of AI in strategic EU sectors, and strengthen AI skills and talent.
The last of the five pillars in which the plan is divided is the one dedicated to regulatory simplification, which could also concern the AI Act, the European law on AI approved in the last legislature and fully applicable from 2026. The aim is to reduce “the regulatory burden to a minimum” and ensure “a simple and innovation-friendly implementation of the AI Act”, said Henna Virkkunen, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for technological sovereignty, arguing that reducing some reporting obligations “is not harmful to anyone”.
According to the AI Act, she explained, “about 85% of all AI systems are not yet regulated”, while “for the remaining 15% we want to achieve maximum simplicity”. The atmosphere is notably different compared to the previous legislature that had made European digital regulations a major focus.
The EU’s legal framework on digital matters has drawn criticism from the new American administration, which accuses Brussels of imposing punitive rules on American companies, threatening retaliatory measures to protect US economic interests. Brando Benifei, MEP for the Democratic Party and rapporteur for the AI Act, cautioned, “The part regarding regulatory simplification will need to be explored in more depth.” He emphasized support for measures that aid European companies in reducing costs and facilitating AI systems development, but voiced opposition if simplification favored big tech companies seeking to evade responsibilities and rules.