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In a few days, Paris will welcome the summit for action on artificial intelligence. If this meeting promises to tackle crucial questions of ethics and society, it seems that the emphasis is more on regulation than on the development of a competitive European ecosystem. An approach that questions, while Europe is already struggling to keep the pace of the United States and China in the AI innovation race.
A Europe lagging behind in the world dynamics of AI
In 2024, the European venture capital market remained sluggish, contrasting with the United States where funding jumped 20 %, carried by an explosion of projects related to artificial intelligence. Globally, AI has captured a third of investments, reaching a record amount of $ 100 billion. The Bay Area region in California has concentrated 61 % of these funding, consolidating its role as a global engine.
In comparison, European startups are struggling to compete. Promising initiatives like Mistral. AI in France draw attention, but they remain far from the performance of American giants such as Optaai or Anthropic, capable of raising billions of dollars from the first stages of their development.
The structural brakes of the European market
This situation stems from well -known weaknesses. The fragmentation of European markets makes fundraising more complex, and the limited capacities of local funds hamper support for startups in the growth phase. Consequently, many young European companies turn to American funding, thus strengthening their dependence on foreign capital.
A striking example is that of Mistral.ai, which has largely financed with American investment funds. Dataiku and Hugging Face follow a similar trajectory, with predominantly American funding and a head office transferred or created across the Atlantic. Conversely, some countries, such as Germany, support their national projects more. Aleph Alpha, flagship actor of German AI, mainly benefits from German or European investments.
Insufficient European institutional support
Despite the many reports on the subject, the absence of institutional financing structures on a European scale remains problematic. Neither the European Commission nor the European Investment Bank are currently playing a significant role in the development of the infrastructure necessary to guarantee technological autonomy in AI.
Europe is likely to accuse a significant delay in the construction of its own infrastructure, in particular data centers, essential to support growing needs in AI.
Regulations, a fake competitiveness lever
Ironically, Europe excels in regulation, as evidenced by the AI act initiative. Regulations that French tech players like Xavier Niel or Mistral.ai denounce as an obstacle to innovation and development. Thus not only will this regulatory policy be enough to fill economic and strategic gaps, but it will isolate Europe from the rest of the world, preventing its own society from developing advanced technologies in their territories.
And simultaneously, the GAFAMs continue to seduce the best European talents, in welcoming them in the United States or by installing AI laboratories in major European capitals, recruiting the most promising students, accentuating the brain flight. All staged as a brand of success for our policies in terms of innovation and economic development.
The urgent need for a European start
The stakes are not only in size, and cannot suffer from the slightest wait -and -see. If Europe wishes to avoid becoming a simple passive consumer of innovations from elsewhere, it must act quickly. This implies:
- Massive investments in technological infrastructure.
- Support for the consolidation of startups To create transnational champions.
- A significant increase in growth funds To support companies in the expansion phase.
- Arouse the enthusiasm of our talents to create and participate in ambitious European projects
Without a real start, the gap with the United States and China will continue to widen, relegating Europe to the outskirts of this technological revolution which will mark an immeasurable break with the world we know today.