EU Court of Justice:

EU lags behind USA, China in AI race

The criticism is that many measures and regulations have been implemented too slowly.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Despite numerous measures, the EU is lagging behind the USA and China in the race for artificial intelligence. Although the EU Commission has increased spending on AI research in recent years, it has not succeeded in triggering corresponding private investment, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors.

However, AI investments are of great importance for the EU's economic growth: "In the race for AI, there is a risk that the winner takes all in the end," warns the responsible auditor Mihails Kozlovs in a press release. "To achieve the ambitious EU goals, the European Commission and the EU countries must join forces more effectively, act faster and make better use of the EU's potential."

The lack of effective coordination with the member states is one of the main points of criticism in the report. The Commission lacked "the necessary management tools and information". In addition, many measures and regulations have been implemented too slowly.

Promote the use of results from AI research more strongly
The auditors recommend that the EU Commission examine the need for an EU-funded instrument for capital support with a focus on innovative SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the field of AI. In addition, the use of the results of EU-funded AI research should be promoted more strongly. Furthermore, the Court of Auditors recommends "reassessing the EU investment target for AI and agreeing with the Member States how they could contribute to achieving the target".

The current targets date back to 2018, according to which 20 billion euros are to be invested in AI each year between 2021 and 2030, both privately and publicly. Between 2021 and 2027, the Commission has also committed to investing one billion euros each year in corresponding research and innovation. By 2030, 75 percent of companies in the EU should also be using AI.

Large differences in the use of AI in companies
According to the European Court of Auditors, the EU average for 2021 was eight percent. The differences between the member states are large: in many Eastern European countries, the proportion is below five percent, while in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Slovenia, Portugal and the Benelux countries it is over ten percent.

Denmark stands out in particular here. For large companies (250 employees or more), the proportion is already approaching 70 percent - for SMEs (10 to 249 employees) it is already over 20 percent.

Austria is in the middle of the field. Among SMEs, the proportion here is still below ten percent. However, around 30 percent of large companies already use AI applications in some form.