The European Union is investing $56 million in a project to develop an open-source large language model (LLM) that can work with the bloc's 30 languages. This initiative involves top researchers from various companies and universities across EU countries and will utilize supercomputers from Spain and Italy. The project aims to create a model that aligns with EU values and can be built upon by European companies and governments. This move comes as the EU seeks to re-enter the AI race, especially after China's DeepSeek developed a competitive model at a lower cost than its U.S. counterparts.
The EU's investment is modest compared to the billions being poured into American AI labs like OpenAI. However, the EU hopes to leverage open-source models to foster innovation and address regulatory challenges posed by its AI Act, which restricts certain AI applications. Critics argue that the EU's fragmented funding approach may not yield significant results, drawing parallels to past unsuccessful tech projects. Nonetheless, the EU is increasing its research budget and investing in supercomputing infrastructure to support its tech sector.
Key takeaways:
The EU is investing $56 million in an open source large language model project to compete in the AI space.
The project aims to develop a model that supports the EU's 30 languages and aligns with its values.
Europe's initiative comes as U.S. companies face regulatory challenges in the EU due to the AI Act.
Critics argue that public investment may be more about PR than achieving significant impact.
