Source: Europa
The competition for AI leadership is ongoing. The EU's AI landscape is vibrant, featuring everything from advanced foundation models to specialized AI applications. This dynamic environment is fueled by research, emerging technologies, and a flourishing ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan will enhance the European Union's AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies centered on five key pillars:
Establishing a Large-Scale AI Data and Computing Infrastructure
The Commission will bolster Europe’s AI and supercomputing infrastructure with a network of AI Factories. Thirteen of these factories are already being set up around Europe's leading supercomputers, supporting EU AI startups, industries, and researchers in developing AI models and applications.
As mentioned in the Competitiveness Compass, the EU will also aid in establishing AI Gigafactories—large-scale facilities equipped with around 100,000 cutting-edge AI chips, four times the current capacity. These Gigafactories will combine massive computing power and data centers to train and develop complex AI models on an unprecedented scale, driving the next wave of frontier AI models and ensuring the EU's strategic autonomy in vital industrial sectors and sciences. Public and private investments will be essential, and a call for expressions of interest for interested consortia is issued today.
The InvestAI initiative will further encourage private investment in Gigafactories, mobilizing €20 billion for up to five AI Gigafactories across the Union.
To stimulate private sector investments in cloud capacity and data centers, the Commission will propose a Cloud and AI Development Act, aiming to at least triple the EU's data center capacity in the next five to seven years, focusing on highly sustainable data centers.
Enhancing Access to Large and High-Quality Data
To fuel AI innovation, access to substantial volumes of high-quality data is essential. A key component of the Action Plan is the establishment of Data Labs, which will curate and consolidate large, high-quality data sets from various sources within AI Factories. A comprehensive Data Union Strategy will be rolled out in 2025 to create a genuine internal market for data that can scale AI solutions.
Despite AI's potential, only 13.5% of companies in the EU have embraced it. To foster tailored AI solutions and enhance their industrial application in strategic public and private sectors, the Commission will introduce the Apply AI Strategy in the coming months. The European AI innovation infrastructure, particularly the AI Factories and the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), will play a crucial role in this Strategy.
Strengthening AI Skills and Talent
To address the growing need for AI talent, the Commission will facilitate the international recruitment of highly skilled AI experts and researchers through initiatives like the Talent Pool, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action ‘MSCA Choose Europe,' and AI fellowships provided by the upcoming AI Skills Academy. These measures will create legal migration pathways for highly skilled non-EU workers in the AI sector and attract top European AI researchers and experts back to Europe. Moreover, educational and training programs on AI and Generative AI will be developed in key sectors to prepare the next generation of AI specialists and support the upskilling and reskilling of the workforce.
Regulatory Simplification
The AI Act aims to enhance citizens' trust in technology while providing legal certainty for investors and entrepreneurs to scale and deploy AI across Europe. The Commission will also launch the AI Act Service Desk to assist businesses in complying with the AI Act, serving as a central hub for information and guidance.
Next Steps
With the introduction of this Action Plan, the Commission is initiating two public consultations that will run until June 4, 2025, to further refine these initiatives:
A public consultation inviting all interested parties to share their insights on the Cloud and AI Development Act.
A public consultation on Apply AI aimed at identifying stakeholder priorities, challenges to AI adoption, and the relevance of proposed solutions and policy approaches—including measures to facilitate the smooth application of the AI Act.
A third public consultation on the Data Union Strategy will be launched in May.
Simultaneously, the Commission will organize dialogues with industry representatives and the public sector to help shape the Apply AI Strategy. These dialogues, alongside the public consultations, will highlight untapped potential in AI technology adoption across specific sectors, their current integration into business and production processes, and opportunities for scaling within these sectors and the broader economy.
