EC Launches Virtual AI Institute

The European Commission launched the pilot of RAISE – the Resource for Artificial Intelligence Science in Europe. This new virtual institute is a flagship initiative under the Apply AI Strategy and the European Strategy for AI in Science.

It will bring together essential resources for developing AI and applying it to drive transformative scientific breakthroughs, from improving cancer treatments to solving environmental issues, improving predictions of the impact of earthquakes, and more. The RAISE pilot will be funded with €107 million under Horizon Europe. Drawing on the EU's proven capacity to tackle complex challenges through collective action, RAISE will support the EU's goals to put science and technology at the heart of its economy, maintaining its leadership in fundamental research, to let innovation serve humanity, and to welcome global talent to Choose Europe.

As such, it will contribute to bolstering Europe's competitiveness, driving it towards a new age of invention and ingenuity, and will reinforce its technological sovereignty. RAISE will be a virtual European institute, pooling and coordinating core AI resources, including computational power, data, talent, and research funding across the EU Member States and the private sector, to drive both the development of frontier AI and AI-enabled scientific progress.

To accommodate the fast-paced changes in innovations and the shifting needs of the AI science ecosystem, RAISE will be built in phases and will grow as its partners, resources, contributions, and needs evolve. Following the pilot phase, the EC will work together with the EU Member States, research stakeholders, including higher education institutions, and with the private sector, in view of further developing RAISE under the next long-term EU budget, and ensuring its long-term sustainability, both in terms of governance and pooled resources.