To pursue its strategy, it will seek a less prescriptive approach to regulating AI in the EU
The first phase of the strategy yielded positive results: On Monday, the Secretary of State for the Digital Transition and Electronic Communications, Cédric O, announced the second phase of the Government’s AI Strategy. It follows on from the first launched in March 2018, which aimed to put France “on the world map of AI”. It seems to have worked. An investment of €1.5bn led to the creation of a network of interdisciplinary institutes for artificial intelligence, the funding of doctoral programs, and investment in computing capacities for public research. National and regional aid on AI projects grew from €170m in 2018 to more than €1bn in 2021. The number of AI startups has grown by 11% between 2020 and 2021, reaching a total of 520 and raising more than twice as much funding as last year (€1.6bn compared to €708m).
The focus will now be on developing digital skills: The second phase of the strategy will have a 2025 horizon, with the Government looking to invest about €1.5bn. The private sector is expected to contribute €506m, and €86m will come from European funds – a total of more than €2.1bn. The main focus of the strategy will be on fostering digital skills. By 2025, France wants to train and fund at least 2,000 undergraduates, 1,500 masters students, and 200 additional theses per year. By January 2024, the Government will also aim to recruit at least 15 world-class foreign scientists. In parallel, France will look to grow its presence in AI markets, with a view to reaching a 10–15% market share in the global market for ‘embedded AI’ (ie. machine and deep learning in software at the device level). The Government wants to support 400 SMEs in the adoption of AI solutions to increase their competitiveness by 2025.
France wants less prescriptive regulation of AI at the EU-level: With such an ambitious AI strategy, it is perhaps no surprise that the French Government is pushing for a pro-innovation regulatory environment. In launching the strategy, the Secretary of State pointed at a worrying European trend of “regulation before innovation”, and noted that the EU’s “risk-only approach” undermines the ability to create much-needed champions. This gives us a flavour of what to expect in the first six months of 2022, when France will take the presidency of the European Council where it is likely to push for a less prescriptive approach to regulating AI.
