Experts: Europe lags far behind in artificial intelligence, new data centres could change that
Industry experts on Latvian Radio say Europe currently lacks the infrastructure needed to develop its own AI models and predict a wave of new large data centre construction that could help close the gap.
Speaking on the Latvian Radio programme "Zināmais nezināmajā," industry experts concluded that Europe is significantly behind other regions of the world in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The discussion featured Neils Kalniņš, director of the "5G Techritory" programme at the state joint-stock company Elektroniskie sakari, and Jānis Irbe, senior expert at the Riga Technical University High Performance Computing Centre.
Infrastructure gap
According to the experts, Europe currently lacks the technological infrastructure needed for the continent to independently develop its own AI models and reduce its dependence on solutions created elsewhere in the world. They noted that Europe remains far from the level of capability it would need to compete effectively with other global regions in this field. This shortage of infrastructure is considered one of the main reasons behind Europe's lag in AI development.
Data centre construction expected
Kalniņš and Irbe predict that the situation could change in the future, as a rapid buildout of large data centres is anticipated. Such centres are needed to provide the computing power required to train and operate AI models. The experts believe that building new data centres could become an important step allowing Europe to move closer to other global leaders in AI technology.
The programme emphasized that the current situation shows Europe is still far from its desired goal, but that the necessary investments in infrastructure, including new data centres, could help narrow this gap going forward.
