Dutch government wants to invest 300 miljoen euro in AI
image: Google Deepmind via Unsplash
Europe lags far behind the US in the AI market. The Dutch government wants the Netherlands to build a supercomputer to gain a stronger position. Reijer Passchier, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, warns against the dominance of US tech companies.
In Dutch news programme ‘EenVandaag’, the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts claims that AI is essential to strengthen the Netherlands and Europe. Businesses and governments will be radically changed by AI. The Dutch government therefore wants to build its own infrastructure for what the minister calls ‘sovereign computing power’. He says it will also increase labour productivity, provide solutions to labour shortages and will be crucial for security. The Netherlands simply cannot afford not to join the AI race.
However in the ‘EenVandaag’ broadcast, Reijer Passchier underlines the importance of developing a European alternative. He says the Magnificent Seven have a highly disproportionate influence on the digital world because ‘the technology of these companies is closely intertwined with our society’. This dependence threatens our privacy, innovation and sovereignty. They have free rein in the European market, Passchier says, and we should make it difficult for these companies and ‘ultimately even ban them’ to prevent important societal decisions being ‘dominated by big tech from Silicon Valley and Seattle.’
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Read the article and listen to the broadcast on EenVandaag (in Dutch)