“Europe needs to do a lot to accelerate the development of Artificial Intelligence solutions,” says Member of the European Parliament Michał Kobosko. Such initiatives and massive investments in European AI gigafactories were discussed at the Paris summit by EU representatives. The development of AI largely depends on chip supplies, which are specialized by American companies. These companies want to maintain their advantage. Hence, at the end of Joe Biden’s presidency, they announced export restrictions for some countries, including Poland.
“The restrictions on the export of American chips are now one of the elements of the dispute between the United States and Europe,” says Michał Kobosko, a member of the European Parliament from Poland 2050. “Poland, like some other EU countries, has been placed on this negative list, strict restrictions have been introduced.”
In mid-January during the final term of President Joe Biden, the US Department of Commerce announced new rules for exporting chips used in the development of AI. A three-tier system was introduced: countries classified in the first group, recognized by Washington as strategic allies, will have unrestricted access to advanced technologies developed by American companies. These include Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and part of Western Europe, such as Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, and Sweden. In the second group are countries that will be subject to a quantitative limit on importing US AI chips, fixed at 50,000 pieces, with the possibility of increasing to 100,000. This group includes Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland, but also most African countries, almost all of South America, and part of Asia, including India and Mongolia. The last and third group includes countries to which the export of American AI chips will be prohibited. China and Russia, as well as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and North Korea are in this group.
Washington’s decision has caused a political storm, as only 18 ally countries will still be able to buy integrated circuits from the US without hindrance. Within the European Union, only 10 countries are included – meaning that the other member countries will be subject to restrictions. For Poland, which belongs to this group, this could mean a slowdown in the development of innovation and advanced solutions based on AI.
“We see no basis for this. We hope to come to an agreement with the Trump administration on this matter,” says Michał Kobosko.
Experts estimate that the new president’s administration may take a more liberal approach to AI regulations and alleviate restrictions introduced by his predecessor. Key technology restrictions were first introduced during the Trump administration.
The restrictions represent a global race for technological dominance – with the current leader in AI development being the United States, a key player for economic development and defense. Most companies involved in the production of AI chips are American companies (Nvidia, AMD, Intel).
“Today in Europe, we cannot be independent of American supplies, most chips are produced by suppliers from across the Atlantic, the United States is currently ahead. However, Europe needs to do a lot and we’re hearing such announcements already from the main European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron – to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence solutions. The United States and Europe share common interests here. Therefore, they should work together on these solutions, so that we, in a global race, do not fall behind countries that do not belong to the democratic camp,” says Kobosko.
The US aims to prevent countries such as Russia or China from developing advanced AI because this could threaten US national security.
The future of AI was a hot topic during the AI Action Summit which took place this week in Paris. Attendees included US Vice President J.D. Vance, EU Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen, as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Zhang Guoqing, and major AI industry representatives from around the world. The summit aimed to launch specific initiatives that would help to use AI for the collective good in various fields. The US Vice President communicated the new administration’s expectations from the EU to soften its AI regulations, which are hindering innovation. Meanwhile, the head of the EC presented the European vision for AI development. She announced InvestAI – a new initiative aiming to activate €200 billion for AI investments, including a new €20 billion European fund for four AI gigafactories that would make Europe an “AI continent.” These factories would specialize in training the most complex, large AI models, which require expansive computing infrastructure.
The Ministry of Digitization reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digitization, Krzysztof Gawkowski, met with representatives of the US administration. The main topic of discussion was the export restrictions on advanced American microprocessors and Poland’s plans to support the development of the semiconductor sector.
“We remain committed to strategic international cooperation on AI, including cybersecurity and new technologies. We are ready to continue discussions on the development of technological and investment cooperation. Europe should take coordinated action for the development of artificial intelligence and build its potential, for example by consistently implementing the AI Factories program,” insisted Krzysztof Gawkowski, quoted in the statement.
