The European Commission (EC) recently unveiled a new package outlining measures to boost the continent’s ambitions around semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source, all as part of a bid to strengthen the bloc’s digital autonomy.
EC stated measures in the four areas will help Europe “become an AI continent”, established as a leader in research, development and adoption of AI.
It hopes the package will fast track ambitions around technology sovereignty and protect European digital independence, as part of a long-standing goal to reduce reliance on the US and Asia.
Starting with chips, the EC said it wants to secure the semiconductor base for Europe’s AI ambitions through the Chips Act 2.0, which is designed to speed up permitting, deepen cooperation with “like-minded partners” and introduce a new excellence label for Europe’s semiconductor regions.
It is an update of the original Chips Act, in force since 2023, which represented Europe’s response to vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain.
Secondly, a new Cloud and AI Development Act is designed to aid the buildout of new data centres, streamline conditions for deploying facilities across the European Union (EU) and introduce a single EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty. The wider aim is to triple the region’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years.
Through open source, the EC wants to strengthen digital autonomy, scaling up alternatives in priority areas, invest in skills, startups and digital infrastructure while supporting greater use of open source in public administration.
Finally, the EC put the focus on digitalising Europe’s energy system, pledging to define a roadmap in the sector to ensure data centres are integrated, while building sovereign and secure AI models.
Technological sovereignty
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, said Europe “cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure”.
“This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base and the Single Market. Together, we must turn these strengths into technological sovereignty.”
Before the package is put into force, the proposal will be negotiated by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. The commission will also launch a consultation process with member states.
Investment will be made through existing grants until 2028, while future funding is to be confirmed in the next EU budget. The EC has previously estimated a combined public-private investment of €120 billion by 2035 to rejuvenate the continent’s chip industry.
Source: Mobile World Live
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Source: Tahawul Tech