The European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, defended on Friday at the Forum Europa in Brussels the need for Europe to become "a magnet for global talent" in artificial intelligence and pointed out that "we should invest heavily in AI" to maintain the continent's competitiveness.
Zaharieva addressed this issue at an informative meeting organised by New Economy Forum in the EU capital, where she stated that the EU's growth in artificial intelligence covers various aspects.
She said that "it is not just about models, it is also related to industry" and highlighted that Europe has "very promising" AI start-ups that are developing "unique models".
The Bulgarian commissioner indicated that the continent "is beginning to attract global talent in AI" and cited the example of Bulgaria, which "has become a magnet for global talent" with numerous applications from young researchers specialising in artificial intelligence.
Zaharieva insisted that Europe must "invest heavily in AI" through both the 'Horizon Europe' programme and the European digital programme, and stressed that there are "ecosystems that attract global talent for AI" in different countries across the continent.
THE EU: "OPEN" TO INNOVATION
The European official announced that they are working on "a new multi-million euro European fund to invest in national technology companies" that will begin to take shape early next year and should help retain European talent.
She stressed the importance of European technology companies growing in size because, currently, when "they have to scale up, most of the time they have no choice but to leave Europe", so this instrument aims to prevent that brain drain and capital flight.
She also noted that scientific freedom will be included in the future European Research Area Law, following the recommendations of the European Parliament. Zaharieva emphasised that this will be "our signal to the world that Europe is not only open to the world's best talent, but is also the best place for researchers and innovators".
