British Prime Minister Rishi Snack and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Kin Chong | Poole | Getty Images
London — Two countries are vying for the spot of Europe’s artificial intelligence hub.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Snak have made bold statements about AI in recent weeks, each seeking to lay claim to AI. A highly hyped market.
“I think we’re number one [in AI] Macron told CNBC’s Karen Tso on June 18 at Vivatech, France’s annual technology conference. Meanwhile, Sunak touted the UK as “the geographic home of global AI safety regulation” at the London Tech Week conference on June 18. June 12.
AI is considered revolutionary, strategic importance to governments around the world.
The hype about this technology was partly driven by its viral nature. microsoft– Support OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This is also the source of technological tensions between the US and China as countries around the world seek to harness the potential of their most significant technology.
So who is leading the race for the European AI throne?
money matters
At Vivatec in Paris, President Macron announces donation of 500 million euros ($562 million) New funding to create new AI “champions”. This is in addition to previous commitments by the government to including a promise It plans to pour €1.5 billion into artificial intelligence by 2022 to catch up with the US and Chinese markets.
“We invest like crazy in training and research,” Macron told CNBC, adding that France has an advantage in AI thanks to access to talent and the start-ups being formed around the technology. He added that he was in a position
In March the UK government promised £1 billion It has invested ($1.3 billion) in supercomputing and AI research, aiming to become a “technological superpower”.
As part of the strategy, the government said it wanted to: spend about £900 million About building an “exascale” computer that can build its own “BritGPT” to rival OpenAI’s generative AI chatbots.
But some officials have criticized the funding promises as not enough to help Britain compete with powers such as the United States and China.
“It sounds great, but it’s a long way from what we’re aiming for,” said Sajid Javid, a former minister in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, during a fireside discussion at London Tech Week.
Crack down on AI misbehavior
One of the big differences between the UK and France is that each country has chosen how to regulate artificial intelligence and has already enacted laws that affect the rapidly advancing technology.
The European Union has an AI law that will be the first comprehensive set of laws focused on artificial intelligence in the West. That law Approved by members of the European Parliament in june.
It assesses various applications of AI based on risk. For example, real-time biometric and social scoring systems are deemed to pose an “unacceptable risk” and are prohibited under regulation.
France will come under the direct jurisdiction of the AI law, according to Minesh Tanna, with the relevant French regulator, the CNIL or a new AI-focused regulator, taking a “proactive approach” to its enforcement. “It wouldn’t be surprising,” said the global AI lead at international law firm Simmons & Simmons.
In the UK, rather than enact AI-specific legislation, the government has issued a white paper advising various industry regulators on how they should implement existing regulations in their respective fields. The whitepaper takes a principled approach to regulating AI.
The government has touted the framework as a “flexible” approach to regulation, which Tanna described as being “more innovation-friendly” than the French method.
He added that “the UK’s approach is driven by a desire to encourage AI investment in a post-Brexit world”, which led the UK to “propose regulation at an appropriate level to encourage investment”. “Freedom and flexibility to do so” will be further enhanced. Email CNBC.
In contrast, the EU AI law could make French artificial intelligence investments “less attractive” given that it puts in place a “burdensome regulatory regime” for AI, Tanna said. Stated.
who will win?
“France clearly has a chance to become a leader in Europe, but faces tough competition from Germany and the UK,” Anton Derbra, co-director of the Johns Hopkins University Autonomy Assurance Institute, told CNBC in an email. I have,” he said.
Alexandre Leblanc, CEO of Nabla, an AI “co-pilot” for doctors, said Britain and France were “probably evenly matched” when it comes to the appeal of starting AI companies.
He told CNBC that he has “a great talent pool, sites like Google and Facebook’s AI research centers, and a decent local market,” but the EU AI law will allow start-ups to build AI in the EU. He warned that it would be “impossible” to do so.
“At the same time, if the UK adopts smarter laws, it will definitely beat the EU and France,” Leblanc added.
At the same time, London has been the source of much of the doom and gloom from some in the industry who have criticized it for being an unattractive place for tech entrepreneurs.
Opposition Labor leader Kier Starmer told attendees at London Tech Week that a series of political crises in the country had dampened investor sentiment for technology in general.
“Many investors have told me they are not investing in the UK at this time because they don’t see the political certainty they need to invest,” Mr Sturmer said.
Claire Trachet, CFO of French tech startup YesWeHack, Both the UK and France have the potential to challenge the dominance of US AI giants, but cooperation across Europe is as important as it is competition between different hubs, he said. Stated.
“It will require a concerted and collective effort from Europe’s tech giants,” she said. “To have a truly meaningful impact, we must harness our collective resources, foster collaboration, and invest in fostering robust ecosystems.”
“The combination of strengths, especially with Germany’s involvement, could create an attractive alternative to disrupting the AI environment within the next 10-15 years, but this is also a highly strategic vision. and a collaborative approach,” added Trachet.
