EU leaders urged to 'act now' to stay AI competitive with US, China

European Union leaders met in Dublin on Friday at the first ever summit on artificial intelligence (AI). The meeting came at a critical moment, as the bloc seeks a unified policy on the rapidly evolving technology.

The meeting took place in Dublin's Convention Center, which was also the meeting place of the European Political Community summit this week.

Mistral's CEO Mensch urges EU to 'act now' 

French AI company Mistral's CEO Arthur Mensch, as well as Nobel-prize winner and researcher Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the "godfather of AI," spoke to EU leaders at the summit.

"Europe has all the technology and the talent to lead the AI race," Mensch said during the event. "What it needs is speed, financing and a strong coordination between member states." 

Mensch urged the leaders to "act now" to stay competitive with the US and China in regards to AI development.  

"AI is the most important technology of our time," European Council ‌President Antonio Costa said in a post on X regarding the summit. "Europe must make the most of its benefits, from higher productivity to better public services. We must also manage the risks and changes it will bring — and help set global standards for responsible governance and safe, human-centric AI."    

The summit took place at a time of mounting worries about the emerging technology, which promises to transform ‌industries, labor markets and societies.

It also came in the wake of a series of incidents involving rogue AI agents in recent months and the wider discussion about how the technology could harm humanity.

Tech leaders behind the technology have also fallen under scrutiny. As recently as this week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was forced to resign after it was revealed that he had been in a relationship with a Chinese spy and a direct report in his company.

Finding Europe's role in the AI revolution

During the summit, a discussion occurred about where Europe fits in within the AI movement.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said she frustrated with the notion that Europe had "somehow lost the AI race."  

She noted that the EU has "world-class talent, technological expertise and industrial experience to lead in AI."

"What we need now is to ensure that our ideas have the financing they need to grow and succeed in Europe," she added.

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EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said there is a "dark side" to AI. 

"We can all already see this in the battlefield in Ukraine, where you have drones equipped by artificial intelligence to really train to find anybody to kill," Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, said at the event. 

Leaders face questions on how to unlock AI's potential, how to catch up with China and the United States in the race for the technology, but also how to protect against the risks it poses to individuals and businesses.

The governments of Estonia and Finland wrote in a letter ahead of the summit that Europe must "establish EU-level arrangements for responding to serious AI incidents," calling for "developing advanced AI and governing it responsibly."