By Kavita Mistry 
In order to ramp up the use of Artificial Intelligence in key industries, the European Commission on Wednesday announced a 1-billion-euro ($1.1 billion) plan so as to cut the European Union’s reliance on U.S. and Chinese technologies.
EU’s ‘Apply AI’ Strategy to Ease Regulations and Boost Adoption
The EU executive’s Apply AI strategy followed an action plan unveiled in April which seeks to lighten the regulatory burden and costs for startups struggling to comply with landmark AI rules which entered into force in August last year.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement “I want the future of AI to be made in Europe”, indicating that this move underscores Europe’s goal of achieving strategic autonomy in key sectors amid trade tensions with the United States and China and the dominance of U.S. Big Tech.
She said that “AI adoption needs to be widespread, and with these strategies, we will help speed up the process. We will drive this ‘AI first’ mindset across all our key sectors, from robotics to healthcare, energy and automotive”.
EU’s Strategy Targets Key Sectors with €1B Investment
“The critical sectors that have been singled out for AI adoption are – agri-food, construction, communications, culture, defence, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, pharmaceuticals.
Sector-specific measures under the Apply AI strategy include setting up a network of AI-powered advanced screening centres in healthcare and developing agentic AI in manufacturing, climate and pharmaceutical industries.
The commission said that the 1 billion euros will come from EU research projects such as Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programme, which may encourage EU countries and the private sector to provide matching funds.
Summary
In order to boost AI adoption across critical sectors like healthcare, energy, and manufacturing, European Commission unveiled a €1 billion “Apply AI” strategy with the aim to reduce the dependence of EU on US and Chinese technologies, ease regulatory burdens for start-ups, and promote strategic autonomy. Funding will come from EU research programs, with private sector contributions encouraged.