The European Commission is set this month to launch a consultation on a Data Union Strategy which is slated to be published in last quarter of this year and aims boost the EU's AI capabilities, according to a leaked document seen by Euronews.
A public consultation to glean feedback on its plans – which aim at making it easier to share data between businesses and administrations – will run from April until June, according to the paper, which is dated 8 April.
The Data Union Strategy is one of the pillars that will contribute to the Commission’s plans to make Europe the leading continent on AI.
On Wednesday, the EU executive is set to present an AI Continent Action Plan, aimed at boosting businesses’ uptake of artificial intelligence tools, Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commissioner for Technology said earlier this month.
The action plan will consist of five pillars, including improving infrastructure, data access, cloud, boosting talent and skills and efforts for simplification.
In a bid to make the bloc a leader on AI, the Commission announced earlier this year that it will build more AI factories, where companies can train their AI models.
In addition, a Cloud and AI Development Act to be presented later this year will aim to use investment and energy efficiency targets to help EU companies develop and deploy AI more easily.
Though the Commission is planning a range of communications to feed into the action plan, the paper also flagged several remaining "issues”, including uncertainty over data flows due to global tensions, and the potential lack of data for GenAI companies.
EU rules, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), make it difficult for developers of GenAI systems, such as large language models, to use personal data.
Big Tech companies including Google and Meta have complained in recent weeks about the strict regulatory environment in Europe, which leads to delays in rolling out AI tools.
