The European Commission has introduced a set of measures to support startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in developing trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) in line with EU values and rules. Key initiatives in this package include:
- AI factory: European startup will make it easier to develop general-purpose AI models by simplifying access to dedicated AI supercomputers. The initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of AI technologies.
- i act: The EU AI law agreed in December 2023 is the first comprehensive global law on strong AI models, including models supported by companies such as Microsoft and Google. It aims to promote the development, deployment and adoption of trustworthy AI in the EU.
- Large AI Grand Challenge: Launched in November 2023, this initiative provides financial support and supercomputing access to AI startups.
- AI Office: Establish an AI Secretariat within the Commission to coordinate AI policies at the European level and oversee the implementation and enforcement of AI laws.
- EU AI Startup and Innovation Communication: The plan aims to generate an additional total investment of approximately 4 billion euros by 2027 from a combination of public and private funds.
- European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC): Creation of two EDICs, including Alliance for Language Technologies (ALT) to address the lack of European language data for AI training, and ‘CitiVERSE’ to leverage AI tools to develop local digital twins for smart communities.
These measures reflect the EU’s commitment to fostering AI innovation while complying with its regulations and values.