France races ahead of UK in AI push
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109bn (£90bn) investment in artificial intelligence (AI) on Monday, dwarfing the UK’s commitment to leading the global tech race.
The funding, which was announced at the Paris AI summit, will come from both public and private sources, as Macron aims to position France as a major AI hub.
The UK’s recent pledge to invest £14bn in AI over the next decade appears modest in comparison, raising concerns that the UK is falling behind.
Macron’s pledge
Macron’s announcement forms part of his plan to boost AI in France in the coming years.
“We have to be in the race”, Macron told French media. “We want to be part of it. We want to innovate. Otherwise, we’ll be dependent on others”.
A major part of this funding will come from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has pledged between €30 and €50bn to build a one gigawatt (GW) AI data centre in France.
French telecom giant Iliad has also pledged €3bn for AI infrastructure, while Paris based tech startup Mistral is set to invest heavily in its own data centre.
The french defence firm Thales too will be contributing to the nation’s wider push for AI.
Macron compared his pledge to the recently announced Stargate AI project, a $500bn private investment round announced by President Donald Trump in January.
Where does that leave the UK?
In January, Keir Starmer revealed the UK’s AI opportunities action plan, in which he pledged to invest £14bn to boost the country’s role in AI.
Yet, its investment lags far behind that of France and the US.
Starmer said: “The AI industry needs a Government that is on their side, one that won’t slip back and let opportunities slip through its fingers.
“And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.”
Yet Oliver Shaw, chief executive of workforce transformation platform Orgvue, argued that for the UK to remain competitive, it must invest at least £100bn in AI infrastructure.
He said: “The UK’s £14 billion investment is a drop in the ocean compared to the US’ $500 billion. The numbers do not add up—the UK’s economy is only a third smaller than the US, not 35 times.”
Meanwhile, UK science and technology secretary Peter Kyle defended the UK’s approach at the summit.
“We’ve already set out a bold new blueprint for AI, which will help to spark a decade of national renewal”, he argued.
“Key to that plan is supporting our expert researchers and businesses with the support they need to drive forward their game-changing innovations”.