European Court of Auditors urges more targeted investment in AI

"According to the EU authority, there is a rapidly growing investment gap between Europe and the USA. 

 

The EU is more than 10 billion euros behind and is in danger of falling behind.

 

According to the European Court of Auditors, the EU has not been able to keep up with world leaders in terms of investments in artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years. "The EU's AI investments increased steadily between 2018 and 2020," says a report published by the Luxembourg authority on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the AI ​​investment gap between the USA and the EU, which affects both the public and private sectors, is estimated to have more than doubled during this period. "The EU is more than 10 billion euros behind," says the Court of Auditors. Government agencies and private companies have therefore invested significantly more money in the USA.

 

Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also showed that the EU is leading the way in venture capital investments in AI was also worse off than the USA and China in 2021 and 2022, the Court of Auditors said.

 

AI investments from the EU budget have increased according to the information. A spokesman for the EU Commission emphasized, for example, that more than one billion euros per year is already being invested in AI research projects. However, with regard to the confederation's total public and private investments in AI, EU funds only accounted for a small part, according to the Court of Auditors.

 

Auditor: EU investment targets are outdated

 

In the Court of Auditors' view, a lack of ambition in the investment targets "contradicts the goal of building a globally competitive AI ecosystem." The EU's investment targets have remained unchanged since 2018 and are therefore outdated. While the confederation had aimed for public and private investments in AI of 20 billion euros for the entire period from 2018 to 2020, according to the authority, such a contribution was planned every year for the following ten years.

 

The Court of Auditors believes it is important to invest money in artificial intelligence. "Extensive and targeted investments in AI will have a decisive influence on economic growth in the EU in the coming years," emphasized the member of the Court of Auditors responsible for the audit, Mihails Kozlovs.

 

The proportion of companies using AI varies greatly depending on the member state. "France and Germany have announced the largest public AI investments, while four countries still have no AI strategies," the Court of Auditors explained. It is important to agree with the member states how their investments would help achieve EU goals." [1]

 

 1. Europäischer Rechnungshof dringt auf mehr gezielte Investition in KI. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (online) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. May 29, 2024.