EU red tape is holding back AI companies in the region, the Prime Minister of Finland claimed as he called for simpler rules and a focus on talent during an inaugural AI Summit.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Europe was “behind its main global competitors” on AI innovation during his speech at the summit, which marked the launch of the ELLIS Institute Finland in Turku.
He said: “The EU must make it easier for innovative companies to grow, reach the market and get financing… Simpler rules and less red tape would help Europe get faster at turning ideas into results.”
Orpo was speaking on stage with Peter Sarlin, CEO of Silo AI, an AI lab bought by AMD for $665 million in 2018. Finland's PM added that the EU should directly invest in technologies like AI, quantum and semiconductors, citing its €20 billion project to build up to five AI gigafactories as a positive model.
In a pre-recorded speech, EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen also highlighted the initiative as proof of the body's commitment to growing AI infrastructure and said AI investment was "a question of European Sovereignty."
Complaints about the EU's approach to the sector are far from new, with its AI Act accused of being "lethal" to businesses when it was introduced in 2024. The body is currently mulling over a potential delay to regulations on "high-risk" AI systems.
Talent, talent, talent
The need to reposition the EU as a home for AI investment and talent was the overarching theme of Finland summit, with ELLIS Co-Founder and Max Planck Institute Director Bernhard Schölkopf saying the region needs to attract more talent if it wants to “matter in AI” at the global level.
Talent is one of the main concerns for the Finnish institute, which is the second large hub for the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), following its first institute in Tübingen, Germany and 42 smaller “units” across the region.
It aims to build on the success of Silo AI and build out a local AI ecosystem through initiatives such as the funding of nine professorships and associated research groups at Finnish universities.
According to a talent tracker developed by Macro Polo, Europe does retain many of its tech graduates, but also attracts very few from other regions such as the US and China.
Asked by Sarlin where Finland should focus efforts to grow its ecosystem, Orop said the three most important words were "talent, talent and talent" and claimed his government's tax reforms would attract new and returning workers.
Investing in potential
The reforms are also designed to boost the country's venture capital market, with many at the summit citing the need for riskier and bolder investments in EU startups.
Alexandra Gylfe, a founding partner at Nordic Science Investments, said EU investors tended to be too cautious, explaining: “In the US we invest for potential, in Europe we tend to invest for proof.”
In a later panel, Economist and Nobel Laureate Bengt Holmström also said the region's "startup communities need to be freed from this totally excessive regulation", calling for a move away from its "regulation first economy."
The link has been copied!
