European AI self-improvement is not just a matter of money
Author：Eve Cole
Update Time：2024-11-22 12:06:02
French President Macron recently proposed at a forum on artificial intelligence (AI) that if Europe wants to catch up with the forefront of global AI development, it needs to increase investment and find a way to integrate the power of the public and private sectors. A unique path of innovation and self-improvement. On the basis of the EU's continuous strengthening of AI governance concepts and rules, Macron's proposal actually wants to introduce the "public-private partnership" (PPP) model into the EU AI industry, that is, the government and the private sector form a partnership and sign contracts. Clarify the rights and obligations of both parties to ensure smooth cooperation. The PPP model usually focuses on project financing, that is, based on sharing risks and ensuring that the private sector can obtain considerable returns, it enhances the enthusiasm of the private sector for projects with high capital requirements and long operation cycles. At present, the PPP model is also mainly used to promote projects of important infrastructure and social service facilities in order to overcome the short-sighted shortcomings of capital in economic development such as its habit of doing short-term and making quick money. From the perspective of industrial policy practice, the EU has always attached great importance to cooperation with the private sector, using public projects and macro-planning to leverage the advantages of the private economy in capital operations, innovation capabilities, etc. For example, in recent years, the EU has proposed the Net Zero Industry Act, the European Chip Act, and the Critical Raw Materials Act, all of which emphasize public project traction, follow-up of government subsidies, and coordination of "government, industry, academia, and research." At the same time, the EU has launched the "Important Projects of Common European Interest" (IPCEI) in emerging fields such as semiconductors, renewable energy, and batteries to create industry models and cultivate industrial pivots, thereby driving the overall healthy development of the industrial ecology. Objectively speaking, under the background that Europe currently lacks giants in the artificial intelligence and digital economy industries, research forces and enterprises are relatively dispersed, and venture capital supports many emerging technology fields, the official goals of member states and EU institutions are to build confidence and integrate resources. , is indeed one of the few ways Europe can break the situation. In areas such as public infrastructure, the PPP model has proven to be quite effective in solving investment and financing problems such as fear of investment and high risks. Even so, the development of related industries still requires the coordination of policies in other fields. As for the artificial intelligence industry, it is not like infrastructure construction or manufacturing capacity expansion, which can be developed through relatively simple economic scale and repeated construction, but a cutting-edge industry that requires a large amount of intangible resource investment and is driven by innovation. Therefore, solving "money matters" is only a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Among the three major resources currently needed for the development of artificial intelligence, namely capital, computing power and training data, Europe still has obvious deficiencies in the latter two. For example, the main artificial intelligence chip manufacturers are still dominated by the United States. At the same time, European countries have many languages and digital markets. Fragmentation also leaves its data far behind in quantity, quality and integration compared to some other major economies. Even the existing data is largely obtained and controlled by American digital giants that have deeply penetrated the European market. At the same time, the EU's reserves of digital talents, especially top AI, semiconductor and algorithm talents, are relatively insufficient, making it difficult to promote major projects and build leading companies in the field of artificial intelligence. From this point of view, whether in the EU or other countries, cultivating the innovation capabilities and industrial foundation of artificial intelligence is bound to be a systematic project that requires comprehensive and long-term investment, in which the public sector's funding, project traction, application scenarios, etc. are indispensable. Support also needs to mobilize and protect the innovation motivation and long-term mentality of enterprises and scientists.
