President Macron said that France is accelerating developments in AI to bridge the gap with the US and shall invest much more in research and development.
Artificial Intelligence has become the new battleground for the top global economies and France is among the latest to make a strong push in the AI. France is now taking all efforts to position itself as the hub of artificial intelligence in Europe.
Speaking to CNBC’s Karen Tso last week, French President Emmanuel Macron made a bold statement explaining:
“I think we are number one [in AI] in continental Europe, and we have to accelerate.”
Countries are trying to become hubs for AI because it’s considered a groundbreaking technology and governments see it as strategically important. AI is expected to have a significant impact on various industries like finance and healthcare. However, it has also become a new battleground in the ongoing technology rivalry between China and the US. The popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot has contributed to the excitement surrounding AI.
At France’s annual technology conference Viva Tech, AI was the hot topic of discussion among startups as well as established technology firms. Besides, companies across industries such as banking and cosmetics are looking to incorporate AI at their end.
Along with President Emanuel Macron, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Digital Minister Jean-Noel Barrot attended the event. President Macron told CNBC that they have been investing like crazy in research and development. He also stated that France is well-positioned in AI due to its large talent pool and start-ups built around this technology.
France Taking on Giants in AI Like the US and China
With countries like Open AI and Google based out of the US, the country is still leading others in AI by many measures. But France is keen to catch up on this very soon. Macron added:
“Believe me this is clear that the US is number one, for good reason because it is a huge domestic market … I want us to clearly bridge the gap and invest much more, develop much more and accelerate much more.”
Although France is looking to establish itself as the AI hub of Asia, it will be facing stiff competition from the UK and Germany. In a similar pitch last week, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also spoke about making Britain the global AI center.
France aims to establish two or three major global players in the AI field, despite not having a dominant company like the US. President Macron believes in the potential of French startups and their ability to rapidly expand. This was demonstrated by Mistral AI, a recently established startup, which raised 105 million euros for its development. Several other local startups also showcased their innovations at the Viva Tech event, highlighting the excitement surrounding AI advancements in France.
France has been one of the strong proponents of regulation around technology. However, they have taken up some issues with the EU AI Act recently approved by the European Parliament. Speaking on provisions around generative AI, Barrot, France’s digital minister, said that he is preoccupied that “in the recent past few weeks, the EU Parliament has taken a very sort of strong stance on AI regulation, using, in some sense, this AI act as a way to try and solve too many problems at once”.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
