The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire during the Social Conference, in Paris, October 16, 2023 (POOL/AFP/Archives/Miguel MEDINA)
The French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire “proposes the creation of a European community of artificial intelligence” (AI) in order to better coordinate the means to innovate in this area, he declared in an interview with Sunday Journal.
“This project would bring together the best researchers, the best scientists, the best start-ups, the best data centers around common principles, to prevent security and cultural abuses,” he specifies.
“France is a step ahead in AI”, according to him, and “it must guide Europe towards an ambitious project”, launches Bruno Le Maire in a three-page interview that looks like a political program, published on Sunday.
A symbol of success in this field, the French company Mistral AI, one of the two champions of AI in Europe, is cited as an example. Mistral AI “found in our country a dynamic ecosystem, funds, a cultural model, a desire. (…) France will remain the leader in Europe in AI if we further simplify our procedures, if we make available the necessary capital, if we defend our open source model”, affirms Bruno Le Maire.
Mistral AI received encouragement from President Emmanuel Macron during its launch and Bruno Le Maire recently insisted on his desire to see the emergence of “an AI model that is specific to France (…)” and creator of jobs.
“Europe has all the assets to win the AI battle,” assures the French minister.
“The time has come for the European Union to embrace innovation and risk, prioritizing massive investment before regulation. What do we want to become? Producers of new knowledge? Or simple clients of Meta and Google?”, asks Bruno Le Maire.
In mid-January, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen encouraged the EU to “redouble its efforts” so as not to be left behind in the field of AI. Two weeks later, member states approved a first law to regulate AI, while taking into account the needs of start-ups.
“Europe is our best protection,” said the Minister of the Economy, recalling several examples, the fruit of “European solidarity”. He also wishes to “accelerate” and “implement” a “new strategy” of European economic sovereignty.
© 2024 AFP
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