Europe to spend €200 billion on AI race with US and China

The EU will spend €200 billion on artificial intelligence in an effort to compete with the US and China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a speech at the AI ​​Action Summit in Paris.

Image source: Alexandre Lallemand / unsplash.com

Earlier, the European AI Champions Initiative, a group of private investors, raised €150 billion — the authorities will add another €50 billion to this, Ms. von der Leyen said. “We want Europe to become one of the leading continents in the field of AI, and this means embracing a way of life in which AI is present everywhere. I hear too often that Europe is lagging behind in the race in which the US and China have pulled ahead. I disagree, because the race in the field of AI is far from over,” the official said.

The €200 billion InvestAI Initiative is designed to accelerate the construction of gigafactories that will train European AI models. Earlier, it became known that a similar project with a budget of €109 billion will be launched in France – according to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, it will be a response to the American Stargate, which will cost the US $500 billion.

The investment is aimed at helping the EU catch up with China and the US, which have made significant progress in developing cutting-edge AI models such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT. The EU became the first in the world to adopt a comprehensive AI Act last year. “AI will improve our healthcare, drive our research and innovation, and increase our competitiveness. We want AI to be a force for good and growth. We will do this with our own European approach – based on openness, collaboration, and outstanding talent,” said Ursula von der Leyen.