TL;DR:
- European Commission unveils an AI innovation strategy to establish ‘AI Factories’ and promote generative AI adoption.
- The strategy aims to bolster Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty in the AI landscape.
- ‘AI Factories’ will be open ecosystems centered around supercomputers, supporting AI development and talent attraction.
- EuroHPC JU will be revamped to facilitate the ‘AI Factories’ concept, reducing AI model training times.
- Start-ups and researchers can access computing power if they demonstrate ethical practices.
- GenAI4EU will facilitate AI integration across sectors, with a focus on vertical applications.
- Funding of €500 million for GenAI4EU from Horizon Europe and Digital Europe programs.
- Plans to address GPU shortages by developing new chips, including those for quantum computing.
- Investment opportunities for AI start-ups through the European Innovation Council and InvestEU.
- €2.1 billion investment in supercomputers and AI-oriented microprocessors.
Main AI News:
In the fast-paced world of technological innovation, the European Commission is gearing up to unveil a groundbreaking “strategic framework” aimed at propelling AI start-ups to new heights and driving the widespread adoption of generative AI across strategic sectors. This visionary initiative is set to redefine Europe’s standing in the global AI landscape and is outlined in an early draft document obtained by Euractiv.
Scheduled for release at the end of January, the forthcoming communication titled “Boosting AI Start-ups and Innovation” represents a pivotal step towards crafting a dedicated industrial policy tailored explicitly for the realm of Artificial Intelligence. Simultaneously, on the regulatory front, the European Union is poised for the formal adoption of the AI Act.
Acknowledging the relentless and transformative surge of AI technologies, the document underscores the pivotal role played by foundational models such as GPT-4, which has paved the way for the development of versatile AI systems like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
“Mastery of the latest advancements in generative AI is destined to become a cornerstone of Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty,” the strategy proclaims, outlining a strategic investment framework that leverages the European Union’s inherent strengths.
At the heart of the Commission’s strategic blueprint lies the concept of ‘AI Factories,’ which are defined as “open ecosystems centered around European public supercomputers, designed to unite critical material and human resources indispensable for advancing generative AI models and applications.”
These ‘AI Factories’ will be underpinned by AI-dedicated supercomputers and closely located or well-connected ‘associated’ data centers, forming the physical infrastructure necessary for their operation. Moreover, these ‘AI factories’ are poised to conduct unspecified “large-scale talent attraction activities.”
Within the Commission, the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, often referred to as EuroHPC JU, is hailed as a prime example of the success of public-private partnerships. Upon completion, it will establish a network of eight interconnected supercomputers. The objective is to amend the legal foundation of EuroHPC JU to introduce the ‘AI Factories’ concept, specifying how this initiative will offer supercomputing service infrastructure tailored for training large-scale models, slashing training times from months to weeks.
To ensure equitable access to this computing power across the EU, aspiring start-ups and researchers must first demonstrate the ethical and responsible nature of their work. Joining the AI Pact, a voluntary initiative focused on early compliance with the AI Act, is a potential demonstration of commitment in this regard.
Sebastiano Toffaletti, Secretary General at the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, emphasized the significance of the Commission’s proposal, stating, “Computing infrastructure is a prohibitively expensive component of AI, creating high barriers for start-ups to enter the market. That’s why the Commission’s proposal is so important: by providing computing as a public good, it allows more SMEs to build their own models rather than rely on Big Tech products.”
Additionally, the infrastructure will encompass ‘established’ data centers integrated into the Common European Data Spaces, although specific details on data center selection remain undisclosed. The development of a European cloud infrastructure has gained traction and political prominence.
Another essential facet of the ‘AI Factories’ concept entails the establishment of supercomputing support service centers dedicated to assisting AI start-ups and researchers. EuroHPC JU will serve as a single point of contact for directing start-ups to the relevant support centers. These support services will encompass ‘supercomputer-friendly’ programming facilities, algorithmic support for developing and evaluating AI training models, and assistance in creating new applications across critical domains like robotics, manufacturing, and new materials.
Interconnectivity between all AI Factories and collaboration with the EuroHPC Competence Centers and other relevant AI initiatives within the Union are emphasized. However, the regulatory sandboxes outlined in the AI Act are not explicitly mentioned.
In parallel to the infrastructure-focused AI Factories, the Commission is committed to launching GenAI4EU, aimed at promoting the vertical integration of AI applications across the European Union. The absence of an ecosystem approach, which pools the requisite AI expertise and sector-specific skills, poses a significant risk to the Union’s ability to stay abreast of the latest AI advancements.
The overarching goal is to bridge AI start-ups with established companies in traditional industries such as manufacturing. Oversight of these strategic applications against predefined targets will be carried out by the AI Office, established under the AI Act.
Generative AI systems are anticipated to make substantial contributions across a multitude of sectors, including robotics, healthcare, biotechnology, chemicals, new materials, batteries, manufacturing, engineering, mobility, climate change, virtual worlds, digital twins, cybersecurity, aerospace, agrifood, and the public sector. GenAI4EU will be funded through the Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programs, with a total budget of €500 million. EU member countries are also expected to invest approximately €100 million in European Digital Infrastructure Consortia dedicated to large language models and local digital twins.
The training of AI models, a crucial element of this ambitious endeavor, hinges on highly sophisticated microchips known as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). A global scarcity of GPUs has left AI start-ups grappling to secure these vital components, while Big Tech companies have already fortified their reserves. In response, the Commission plans to follow up on its 2019 European Processor Initiative with a ‘major initiative’ under EuroHPC JU, set to be launched this year. This initiative aims to develop a new generation of chips, including those tailored for quantum computing.
When it comes to investments, the strategy outlines that the European Innovation Council will extend ‘dedicated investment opportunities’ to AI start-ups through its accelerator scheme, employing a combination of grants and equity. The InvestEU program, designed to provide long-term funding to companies, is poised to leverage an estimated €1 billion of investments for scale-ups and SMEs through a dedicated instrument for venture capital funds. Meanwhile, the European Union executive and member states will jointly invest €2.1 billion via the EuroHPC JU to acquire new supercomputers with AI capabilities or upgrade existing ones, establish support services, and advance AI-oriented microprocessors. This multifaceted strategy underscores the European Commission’s unwavering commitment to harnessing the potential of AI and solidifying Europe’s position as a global AI powerhouse.
Conclusion:
The European Commission’s comprehensive AI strategy, with its focus on ‘AI Factories,’ vertical AI integration, and substantial investments, signals a transformative shift in the European AI landscape. It aims to provide a competitive edge to European AI start-ups, foster innovation, and reinforce the region’s technological leadership in AI-related domains, ultimately positioning Europe as a formidable player in the global AI market.
