EU to invest 1.5 billion euros in AI to catch up with US, Asia

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will boost its investment in artificial intelligence by about 70 percent to 1.5 billion euros ($1.83 billion) by 2020 to catch up with Asia and the United States, which are each investing at least three times more than Europe. Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize sectors from healthcare to transport to agriculture and Europe is keen not to be left behind in the digital race. The Commission, the EU executive, wants total private and public investment in AI to reach at least 20 billion euros by the end of 2020 to ensure the bloc retains competitiveness and does not face a brain drain. In 2016 European private investments in AI totaled around 2.4-3.2 billion euros, compared to Asia's almost 10 billion euros and America's 18 billion euros. "Just as the steam engine and electricity did in the past, AI is transforming our world," said Andrus Ansip, Vice-President of the European Commission, on Wednesday.