Latest news with #CloudandAIDevelopmentAct
Euronews
05-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Denmark to canvass member states on EU cloud plan, telecom rules during presidency
ADVERTISEMENT Denmark is planning to hold discussions with EU member states on two key digital files – the EU Cloud and AI Development Act and the Digital Networks Act (DNA) – when it takes the lead of the EU meetings in July, sources familiar have told Euronews. The discussions on both files will gather views of the EU countries before the policy proposals will be presented by the European Commission by the end of this year. The Commission started a public consultation earlier in April to seek feedback on the preparatory work for the Cloud and AI Development Act – which is meant to stimulate private sector investment in cloud capacity and data centres. The goal is to at least triple the EU's data centre capacity in the next five to seven years, prioritising highly sustainable data centres. Submissions are open until 4 June. It feeds into the bigger AI Continent Action Plan, which was presented by EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen in April, and which is meant to boost the uptake of AI tools among businesses through a series of initiatives and funding. Telecom overhaul The DNA is set to be presented by the Commission in December. Prior to that the EU executive will carry out a public consultation, expected this month, largely building on the White Paper published in February of last year. It spells out the different policy options that could be included in an overhaul of the existing telecom regulation, as well as new initiatives including spectrum management and sustainability targets. The dossier , first touted by Thierry Breton, the industry commissioner in the previous Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen, was criticised by member states when it was first presented in the White Paper. The plan, heavily lobbied by the telecom industry, sought to charge online platforms and other network users for the build-out of telecom infrastructure. It has been watered down since. Denmark will take over the rotating Council Presidency – which entails leading the member states discussions on Commission proposals – from Poland, which chaired meetings during the first half of this year. The country has hired some extra 100 colleagues in Brussels to enforce the work of the Permanent Representation to the EU.
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
EU's AI Continent Action Plan: Gigafactories, Data Labs, And Green AI
Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Maria Virkkunen talks to ... More the media during the read out following the weekly meeting of the EU Commission in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter on April 9, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. The EU has launched its most aggressive initiative yet to establish itself as a contender in the global AI race. On Wednesday, the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, outlined the key action of its AI Continent Action Plan, which aims to narrow the widening technological gap with the United States and China in this critical domain. The centerpiece of the EU's strategy involves developing a network of AI gigafactories - computing facilities equipped with approximately 100,000 advanced AI chips each, four times more than current AI factories. The EU has committed to mobilizing €200 billion ($219 billion) in AI funding, including a €20 billion fund dedicated to establishing up to five gigafactories. However, these figures appear limited, compared to initiatives from global competitors. A consortium including Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia recently announced Stargate, a $100 billion AI data center project with potential investment growth to $500 billion. Meanwhile, Chinese companies like DeepSeek have demonstrated the ability to develop advanced AI models despite restricted access to cutting-edge chips. To accelerate development, the EU is pursuing public-private partnerships while introducing a Cloud and AI Development Act aimed at tripling Europe's data center capacity within five to seven years, which is crucial given AI systems' escalating computational demands. Beyond hardware limitations, Europe faces significant challenges in data access. The strict privacy protections contained in the GDPR legislation, have had the inconvenient side effect of reducing the availability of training data, which is essential for sophisticated AI models. The Commission plans to address this through AI data labs that will aggregate datasets while maintaining compliance with privacy regulations. The EU's AI Act, passed last year as the world's first comprehensive AI legislation, creates another thin line to thread. While establishing ethical guidelines by banning certain high-risk applications and imposing transparency requirements, these regulations could potentially hamper innovation, particularly for resource-constrained startups. Recognizing this concern, the Commission plans to launch an AI Act Service Desk in 2025, offering guidance to businesses navigating the regulatory landscape. Another challenge, is how to make sure that boosting the EU's AI capacity does not hinder the bloc's ambitious green transition goals. Data centers' energy and water consumption is quickly increasing and cause for concern for their impact on the environment. According to the Commission, 'green computing will continue to be pursued through energy-efficient supercomputers optimized for AI, using techniques such as dynamic power saving and re-use techniques like advanced cooling and recycling of the heat produced'. The goal is to make data centers climate neutral by 2030. The AI Continent Action Plan represents Europe's most coordinated effort to secure relevance in the AI landscape. 'The global race for AI is far from over,' said Henna Virkkunen, EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. 'This action plan outlines key areas where efforts need to intensify to make Europe a leading AI continent.' Significant obstacles remain: insufficient private investment, market fragmentation across 27 member states, and regulatory complexity could undermine Europe's ambitions. Success will depend on translating vision into rapid, coordinated execution across governments, businesses, and research institutions throughout the bloc.
Euronews
09-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU Commission presents plans to boost AI uptake, protect critical sectors
ADVERTISEMENT The European Commission on Wednesday present ed a plan to help boost the uptake of artificial intelligence by companies. The so-called AI Continent Action Plan covers infrastructure, data access, cloud, skills and simplification, and aims to transform Europe's traditional industries into 'powerful engines of AI innovation and acceleration', as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in February in Paris. It's important "to build capacities in critical sectors' to ensure that the bloc is not dependent on other regions, EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters during the launch. 'We have identified AI as one of the sectors where we need to build our own capacity, like quantum and chips. They are key technologies for the future,' Virkkunen said. When it comes to chips used for the development of AI tools, Virkkunen said that the EU has a 'good partnership' with the US. 'We are willing to buy, but we need our own capacities. That is also why we are working on a Chips Act 2.0.,' she added. She declined to comment when asked whether the tech sector will be affected by tariffs in the ongoing trade spat between the EU and the US. Gigafactories for AI development Companies are invited to share feedback until June on several of these strategies via a public consultation on the Cloud and AI Development Act, and the Apply AI strategy, aiming to identify challenges to the uptake of AI. Last year the EU adopted an AI Act setting out rules for AI tools depending on the risk they pose to society. It is being phased in gradually and will be fully in force in 2027. The EU has set a target for three-quarters of firms in the bloc to be using AI by 2030. The Commission previously announced plans for a public-private partnership to set up gigafactories which will have around 100,000 last-generation AI chips, around four times more than the AI factories currently being set up. The aim is that even smaller companies should be able to access large-scale computing power for future development. Euronews understands that a first gigafactory could be set up in 2026. Some €20bn will be earmarked for AI gigafactories, the Commission said in January. Data publish ed by the Commission last January suggests that the bloc is behind when it comes to AI innovation and investment compared to other regions, including the US. Due to 'excessive regulation and administrative barriers' technology companies decide to move elsewhere. Between 2008 and 2021 some 147 unicorns were founded in Europe – companies whose valuation exceeds a billion dollars – but 40 of these moved their headquarters abroad, the bulk went to the US, according to the data.
Wall Street Journal
09-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
EU Bets on Gigafactories to Catch Up With U.S., China in AI Race
The European Union said it would focus on building artificial-intelligence data and computing infrastructure and making it easier for companies to comply with regulation in a bid to catch up with the U.S. and China in the AI race. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it wanted to develop a network of so-called AI gigafactories to help companies train the most complex models. Those facilities will be equipped with roughly 100,000 of the latest AI chips, around four times more than the number installed in AI factories being set up right now. The announcement, part of the EU's AI Continent Action Plan, underscores efforts from the block to position itself as a key player in the AI race against the U.S. and China. The EU has been lagging behind since OpenAI's 2022 release of ChatGPT ushered in a spending bonanza. Earlier this year, Washington announced Stargate, an AI joint venture that aims to build data centers in the U.S. for OpenAI. OpenAI, SoftBank Group, Oracle and MGX are the initial equity funders in Stargate, while Arm, Microsoft and Nvidia are technology partners. The companies are committing $100 billion initially, but plan to invest up to $500 billion over the next four years. Beijing, for its part, has also made strides in the technology. Chinese company DeepSeek developed AI models that it said nearly matched American rivals despite using inferior chips, raising questions about the need to spend huge sums on advanced gear provided by Nvidia and other tech giants. 'The global race for AI is far from over,' said Henna Virkkunen, EU executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. 'This action plan outlines key areas where efforts need to intensify to make Europe a leading AI continent.' The EU in February pledged to mobilize 200 billion euros ($219.17 billion) in AI investments. More than 20 investors earmarked 150 billion euros for AI-related opportunities in Europe over the next five years, while the bloc is setting up a new 20 billion-euro fund for up to five AI gigafactories. The EU plans to work with the private sector to roll out the infrastructure given the elevated costs, a senior EU official said, with member states and companies sharing the burden in a public-private partnership. The bloc posted a call for expressions of interest to attract investors. Meanwhile, EU lawmakers plan to put forward a Cloud and AI Development Act to stimulate private investment in infrastructure as the bloc seeks to at least triple its data-center capacity in the next five to seven years. EU officials also said the commission would set up an AI Act Service Desk, a point of contact to make it easier for companies to comply with the AI regulation in the bloc. EU lawmakers last year approved the world's most comprehensive legislation yet on artificial intelligence. The rules ban certain uses of the technology, roll out new transparency guidelines and require risk assessments for AI systems that are deemed high-risk. News Corp, owner of Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal, has a content-licensing partnership with OpenAI. Write to Mauro Orru at
Euronews
08-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
EU Commission to launch consultation on grand AI strategy
ADVERTISEMENT The European Commission is set this month to launch a consultation on a Data Union Strategy which is slated to be published in last quarter of this year and aims boost the EU's AI capabilities, according to a leaked document seen by Euronews. A public consultation to glean feedback on its plans – which aim at making it easier to share data between businesses and administrations – will run from April until June, according to the paper, which is dated 8 April. The Data Union Strategy is one of the pillars that will contribute to the Commission's plans to make Europe the leading continent on AI. On Wednesday, the EU executive is set to present an AI Continent Action Plan, aimed at boosting businesses' uptake of artificial intelligence tools, Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner for Technology said earlier this month. The action plan will consist of five pillars, including improving infrastructure, data access, cloud, boosting talent and skills and efforts for simplification. Related EU Commissioner touts April launch of AI plan to boost deployment by businesses In a bid to make the bloc a leader on AI, the Commission announced earlier this year that it will build more AI factories, where companies can train their AI models. Related EU to mobilise €200 billion for AI investment In addition, a Cloud and AI Development Act to be presented later this year will aim to use investment and energy efficiency targets to help EU companies develop and deploy AI more easily. Though the Commission is planning a range of communications to feed into the action plan, the paper also flagged several remaining "issues', including uncertainty over data flows due to global tensions, and the potential lack of data for GenAI companies. EU rules, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), make it difficult for developers of GenAI systems, such as large language models, to use personal data. Big Tech companies including Google and Meta have complained in recent weeks about the strict regulatory environment in Europe, which leads to delays in rolling out AI tools. Related Blocking tech giants' AI tools - no downside for EU consumers, claims civil society
