The EU on Wednesday approved the AI Act, legislation on artificial intelligence which guarantees security and respect for fundamental rights while encouraging innovation. Maya Noël, general director of France Digitale, comes to share with us her analysis of the European situation.
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Maya Noël is at the head of France Digitale, an association which brings together well-known start-ups like Back Market and Brut, or very promising ones like Pasqal, specializing in quantum computing. After the AI Act, validated on Wednesday April 3 by the European Parliament, to regulate artificial intelligence, the Ministry of the Economy announced Thursday the launch of a call for projects worth several tens of millions of euros, to develop applications based on generative AI.
Maya Noël: This is already excellent news. If we want to develop coherent, intelligent use of generative AI among the majority of the population, we actually need funding. But financing technology is not enough. What we must understand is that artificial intelligence belongs to a sector. Behind the use we make of it when we talk about ChatGPT, there are raw materials that we will extract to be able to build integrated circuits. Then there is all the infrastructure, namely the networks, the underwater cables… And all of that is what captures the big value behind artificial intelligence.
franceinfo: And these actors are not European?
There are European players. Moreover, this is what we can find in a study that we published this week, on the value chain of generative AI. There are European players who exist at each level of this value chain. However, if we look at the infrastructure part, it is clearly a quasi-monopoly position of the American players and on the lower part, therefore the integrated circuits, we know that the Nvidia player today has a market capitalization which exceeds all the CAC40 combined.
To return to the question of financing, a report submitted last month to the Elysée estimated that it was necessary to invest five billion euros per year, to hope to compete with the United States and China. Instead of only a few tens of millions of euros in France.
This is the investment aspect. But investment is not enough. What is needed is real political will to develop the entire sector. For us, that’s what we’re trying to push. We have released a European manifesto aimed at all public decision-makers. We met all the heads of the list, we met the deputies, we met the commissioners, just before the European elections, which will be an ultra-strategic moment, I think, for policy in favor of innovation.
So you need this will. And yes, investment is not enough.
“What our startups, our businesses need are orders, public orders and private orders.”
So this involves in particular a European preference. You defend the idea of a European Tech Act lease. Basically, encourage European technological purchases, whether public or private actors.
Quite. Because what we see in reality is that the Americans favored the purchase of American products. The same goes for Asians. And if Europeans don’t buy European, no one will do it for us.
At the same time, we see that Mistral AI, a start-up whose boss I received here on your behalf, was forced to enter into a partnership with Microsoft. This clearly shows that we are dependent on the Americans.
There is a situation of dependence but it is not too late to get out of it. Mistral’s partner is a non-exclusive commercial partner, so it uses Microsoft to be able to deploy on a larger scale. And it’s smart to do it. And it’s a good sign to know that big American players agree.
So with the AI Act, Europe is the first continent to regulate artificial intelligence, particularly generative. European Commissioner Thierry Breton says that we are thus forcing AI players, particularly Americans, to comply with our rules. Do you agree ?
I agree that the philosophy behind the AI Act is very good. What this text wants is to ensure that the use made of artificial intelligence is a use which respects society, which respects the environment. There you go, we set the framework.
However, there is the law of the market. And if in fact, the only actors that develop are foreign actors who decide not to respect our rules, it will not work. So I think that the IA Act is very defensive, nevertheless it sets the framework, and we can be proud of it. But that imposes some economic constraints on our actors. And these constraints, before being offensive in the deployment of our companies, can put us a little behind.
And that worries you?
We have regulatory power and that’s very good, it sets the framework, but if we only regulate and don’t innovate behind it, it’s useless.
We have different nations, notably France, which prove that they are capable of innovation and there are beautiful ecosystems which are emerging. But the market of France alone is 60 million inhabitants. Europe is 450 million. The United States is 300 million. We have to play at European level.
“The single European market today does not really exist. We need to be able to act more collectively.”
What if you had a message to pass on to the candidates for the European elections who arrive at the beginning of June?
Let’s be offensive and not be afraid to innovate. This involves this public and private order which must absolutely be directed towards European players, with quotas for example. The European network does not yet really exist because there is in fact national competition between countries, but we feel that things are changing.
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