Digital and Artificial Intelligence: European Initiatives as outlined during the State of the Union

Date 18 September 2023 | Author Elizabeth El Haddad

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, delivered on Wednesday, 13th September 2023, her last State of the Union speech (i) to members of Parliament in Strasbourg before the upcoming European elections. Of the main initiatives presented, which included the economy, social cohesion, enlargement, and Ukraine, major focus was also given to recent developments in Digital Technology and Artificial Intelligence. Directly following President von der Leyen’s address, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Internal Market, highlighted via an article published on LinkedIn (ii) further details about the new and existing initiatives the European Commission undertakes to lead global efforts on AI advancement.

While von der Leyen began by outlining the benefits of AI, mentioning improved healthcare, boosting productivity, and addressing climate change, she was also quick to point out potential threats, including risk of extinction as well as the accessibility, power, and adaptability of applications for both civilians and the military. For Europe to “guide this technology responsibly”, President von der Leyen presented a three-prong approach: guardrails, governance and guiding innovation.

On the subject of guardrails, the AI Act was cited as the world’s first comprehensive pro-innovation AI regulatory framework that is “already a blueprint for the whole world”. She encouraged MEPs and member states to adopt the rules set out in the AI Act as soon as possible while also warning of the “narrowing window of opportunity to guide this technology responsibly”. Breton encouraged swift adoption of the AI Act as it will improve confidence of citizens and businesses in AI developed in Europe, thanks to its respect of fundamental rights and European values.

The AI Act was approved by the Internal Market and the Civil Liberties committees in a joint vote in June 2023 and must now be agreed upon by EU Parliament and the Member States, with hopes to reach an agreement by the end of the year. It could, however, take another 2-3 years for all 27 Member States to implement the new rules. Opposition to the AI Act includes the criticism that it will cost European businesses up to 10,9 billion € a year, that it will weaken Europe’s computing industry, and that it will slow innovation. It is frequently opposed by leading AI tech companies (typically American), resulting in trans-Atlantic conflicts. The leading lobbying group in Brussels, Digital Europe, has encouraged further alignment with international partners (iii).

Related to governance, von der Leyen outlined her support for a body similar to the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) to be created for AI. This global intergovernmental panel should gather “scientists, tech companies and experts, to identify opportunities and risks related to AI”. Breton elaborated that the European AI Alliance Assembly, which will take place in November, brings together many of these stakeholders, including big tech, start-ups, businesses using AI, consumers, NGOs, academic experts and policymakers.

With regards to guiding innovation, Breton provided a refresher to the existing initiatives to “support AI innovation across the value chain”, including Testing and Experimentation Facilities for AI (TEFs), Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs), the development of regulatory sandboxes (as part of the AI Act), the EC’s support for the European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics, and finally the cutting-edge research supported by Horizon Europe. Nonetheless, an impact assessment of these initiatives carried out by the EC or by an independent third party would be welcomed by many as the EU still lags behind the United States and China in terms of funding, company count, and overall investment in AI (iv) (v).

During her address, von der Leyen outlined new initiatives, including the EU AI Start-Up Initiative, which will provide access to high-performance computers to European AI start-ups so that they may train their models. Breton also highlighted the importance of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) as well as the development of two exascale supercomputers (Jupiter in Germany and Jules Verne in France) in addition to existing supercomputers (vi) to help European start-ups “lead the development and scale-up of AI responsibly and in line with European values”.

Finally, von der Leyen encouraged open dialogue between the European Commission and AI developers so that the private sector commits voluntarily to the AI Pact before the rules of the AI Act come into force and highlighted the importance for the business sector to work globally on a set of minimum global standards for the safe and ethical use of AI.

(i) Ursula von der Leyen. European Commission – State of the Union. 13 September 2023. https://state-of-theunion.ec.europa.eu/index_en

(ii) Breton, Thierry. EU leadership in trustworthy AI: Guardrails, Innovation and Governance. 13 September 2023. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/eu-leadership-trustworthy-ai-guardrails-innovation-thierry-breton/

(iii) Hudson, Richard L. ? World’s first artificial intelligence law moves closer to passage in European Parliament ?. Science Business. 11 May 2023. https://sciencebusiness.net/news/worlds-first-artificial-intelligence-law-movescloser-passage-european-parliament

(iv) Top Global Artificial Intelligence Markets. U.S. Department of Commerce. May 2022. https://www.trade.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/Top%20Global%20AI%20Markets%20Report%204.20%20%282%29%20%281%29.pdf

(v) The OECD estimates that in 2020, nearly 80 % of investments in AI went to start-up firms based in the US and China, and only 4% to start-ups based in the EU. Source: https://oecd.ai/en/vc

(vi) Europe possesses 2 of the world’s 5 most powerful HPCs. The LUMI supercomputer in Finland and the LEONARDO in Italy were ranked in the Top 5 most powerful supercomputers in June 2023. Both are funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. Source: https://www.top500.org/lists/top500/2023/06/