EU unveils biggest AI strategy yet, including simplifying the AI Act

The European Union has presented an ambitious plan to boost the artificial intelligence industry and compete with rivals like the U.S. and China.

Unveiled by the European Commission on Wednesday, the AI Continent Action Plan targets five major goals: Building a large-scale AI data and computing infrastructure, increasing access to large and high-quality data, developing algorithms, fostering AI adoption, strengthening AI skills and talents, and finally – simplifying regulation, including the EU AI Act.

“This Action Plan focuses on measures minimizing regulatory burden and guaranteeing a simple and innovation-friendly implementation of the AI Act,” says Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for Technological Sovereignty.

Around 85 percent of all AI systems remain unregulated. As for the remaining 15 percent, the EU wants to achieve a “maximum of simplicity,” says Virkkunen, according to Innovation Australia.

The economic bloc has already put many of these initiatives in motion. In March, Roberto Viola, director of the European Commission’s digital department, said that the EU is determined to simplify its AI rulebook and plans to launch an AI Act Service Desk for businesses.

Earlier this year, the EU pledged to invest 200 billion euros (US$223.7 million) through the InvestAI initiative, including a new European fund of 20 billion euros ($22.3 million) to mobilize investment into five AI gigafactories. These will contain massive computing power and data centers for developing complex AI models.

The AI Continent Action Plan aims to add another 13 AI factories, offering supercomputing capabilities to startups, industry and researchers. The continent has a vibrant startup ecosystem, says the Technology Commissioner.

“However, we need to do more, and we need to do it now, because the pace of change is accelerating, and we cannot afford to fall behind,” she adds.

The EU already has 30 percent more AI researchers than the U.S., according to Virkkunen. To meet the increasing demand for AI talent, the bloc plans to open its doors to highly skilled workers, experts and researchers from across the globe. It also plans to launch new training and education programs.

What’s next for AI in the EU?

The goal of the AI Continent Action Plan is to strengthen European competitiveness in areas such as healthcare, cars, science and others. To understand how to achieve this, the Commission has launched public consultations which will run until June 4th, 2025.

Consultations will be held on the Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to look at cloud capacities, the Data Union Strategy, which plans to form an internal market for data, and the EU’s overarching AI adoption plan, the Apply AI Strategy.

At the same time, the European Commission plans to organize dialogues with the industry and the public sector to shape the Apply AI Strategy. Only 13.5 of EU companies are currently using AI. The bloc wants to increase this figure with the help of AI factories and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs).

Aside from the AI Continent Action Plan, the EU has recently announced other investments into technology including €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) for the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) for 2025 through 2027. The funds are not just aimed at tech development but also at boosting the continent’s independence in light of changing geopolitical winds.

Virkkunen has previously pledged to strengthen the sovereignty of the continent’s tech sector and the EU’s digital commons.

Some experts have been pushing for further moves, including creating a EuroStack – a core technology infrastructure for Europe, including semiconductors, networks, AI, cloud computing, IoT, data platforms and digital ID.

Article Topics

AI  |  AI Act  |  EU  |  EuroStack  |  investment  |  national security  |  regulation  |  research and development