Top AI & Tech News (Through Feb. 16th)

Hello AI Citizens 🤖,

The Paris AI Action Summit takes center stage in this round-up. Here’s a fun fact on AI conferences: The Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence in 1956 is widely considered to be the founding event of artificial intelligence as a field. The workshop has been referred to as "the Constitutional Convention of AI". The project's four organizers - Claude Shannon, John McCarthy, Nathaniel Rochester and Marvin Minsky - are considered some of the founding fathers of AI.

What new policies and announcements are set to shape the world’s AI future?

Here are the key headlines shaping the AI & tech landscape:

• Europe’s AI Push: €150B to Supercharge Startups & Innovation

• Europe Unveils AI Gigafactories & €10B Investment in Supercomputing

• UK & US Refuse to Sign Global AI Agreement at Paris Summit

• France Launches $400M ‘Current AI’ to Promote Open, Ethical AI

• Saudi Arabia Invests $1.5B in Groq to Build AI-Powered Economy

• Brain-Computer Interface Wins 2025 Top Clinical Research Award

• OpenAI Enters The Chip Race

Ready to unpack these stories? Let’s dive into the details 🚀

Europe’s AI Push: €150B to Supercharge Startups & Innovation

At the AI Action Summit in Paris, 20 major investors and corporations pledged €150 billion to scale European AI over the next five years. The EU AI Champions Initiative, led by General Catalyst, aims to simplify AI regulations, boost infrastructure investment, and drive AI adoption across key sectors like manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and defense. Supporters, including Spotify, Airbus, Mistral AI, and Deutsche Bank, are pushing for a pro-business regulatory framework, AI-powered industrial transformation, and semiconductor supply chain investments to close the gap with the U.S. and China. Source: EU-Startups

💡Business leaders must prepare for rapid AI adoption in Europe, as massive funding and policy shifts create new opportunities in AI-driven automation, infrastructure, and industry transformation. Now is the time to invest in AI or risk falling behind.

Europe Unveils AI Gigafactories & €10B Investment in Supercomputing

The European Commission is launching AI Gigafactories—large-scale computing hubs designed to train advanced AI models, inspired by CERN’s collaborative research model. As part of its largest-ever AI investment, the EU is pouring €10 billion into 12 AI Factories, unlocking 10x more in private funding to ensure startups and researchers can access high-performance computing without relying on corporate giants. The EU aims to level the AI playing field, making computing power accessible to all companies, not just Big Tech. The AI Act will standardize safety rules across 450M people, balancing competition with collaboration to build trustworthy AI. Source: European Commission

💡Business leaders should watch Europe’s AI infrastructure boom closely, as open access to AI supercomputing could accelerate innovation, attract global talent, and reshape competition in AI-driven industries. Now is the time to engage in Europe’s AI transformation.

UK & US Refuse to Sign Global AI Agreement at Paris Summit

At the Paris AI Action Summit, the UK and US declined to sign an international agreement on AI ethics, transparency, and sustainability, citing national security and regulatory concerns. While 60 nations, including China, India, and France, backed the declaration, US Vice President JD Vance warned that overregulation could "kill a transformative industry." The UK government echoed similar concerns, emphasizing the need for practical clarity on global governance. The UK's decision raises questions about its AI safety leadership, while the US stance signals a pro-growth, less restrictive AI policy under the Trump administration. Despite not signing, both countries endorsed agreements on AI sustainability and cybersecurity. Source: BBC

💡 Business leaders should expect diverging global AI regulations, with Europe prioritizing oversight while the US and UK push for industry-driven innovation. Companies operating internationally must navigate shifting policies to remain compliant while staying competitive.

Macron Announces $109 Billion Investment In AI and ‘Current AI’ Launch

French President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109B AI investment in France, signaling Europe’s commitment to AI leadership. At the Paris AI Action Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron also unveiled Current AI, a $400M public interest foundation focused on expanding AI transparency, open-source tools, and ethical data access. Backed by 11 governments, including France, Germany, and Switzerland, the initiative aims to ensure AI benefits society in areas like jobs, healthcare, and education. Another major non-profit, ROOST, launched to provide free AI safety tools and combat online abuse and misinformation, supported by Discord, OpenAI, and Roblox. Meanwhile, six data authorities signed a declaration to enforce privacy protections in AI development. Source: EuroNews

💡 With governments and industry leaders prioritizing AI ethics and safety, businesses must prepare for increased regulatory scrutiny. Companies investing in responsible AI and open-source innovation will be better positioned for long-term success in the evolving AI landscape.

Saudi Arabia Invests $1.5B in Groq to Build AI-Powered Economy

At LEAP 2025, Saudi Arabia announced a $1.5 billion investment in Silicon Valley AI company Groq to expand AI inference infrastructure and accelerate its Vision 2030 strategy. This follows Groq’s record-fast deployment of the region’s largest AI inference cluster, now powering global AI computing from a state-of-the-art data center in Dammam.
The investment strengthens Saudi Arabia’s AI leadership, supporting LLM reasoning, text-to-speech models, and the KSA-built Allam AI system. Groq’s LPU-based AI inference technology will scale via GroqCloud™, providing high-performance AI computing worldwide. Source: PRNewswire

💡As Saudi Arabia ramps up AI infrastructure, global enterprises should watch for emerging AI hubs beyond the U.S. and China. Businesses looking to expand in the Middle East should leverage Saudi’s AI-friendly policies and growing compute capabilities.

Brain-Computer Interface Wins 2025 Top Clinical Research Award

UC Davis neurosurgeon David Brandman and his team have won a 2025 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award for their groundbreaking brain-computer interface (BCI), which translates brain signals into speech with 97% accuracy. This technology, designed for ALS patients and those with severe paralysis, allows users to communicate within minutes of activation. The award-winning BCI system—published in the New England Journal of Medicine—is part of the BrainGate2 clinical trial, which is still enrolling participants. The breakthrough marks a major leap in neuroprosthetics, offering hope for restoring speech to those who have lost it. Source: UC Davis Health

💡 As BCI technology advances, business leaders in healthcare, AI, and biotech should explore opportunities in neurotechnology, a field poised to revolutionize communication, accessibility, and human-AI interaction.

OpenAI Enters The Chip Race

OpenAI is moving forward with plans to develop its first in-house AI chip, aiming to reduce dependence on Nvidia. The company will finalize its chip design in the coming months and send it for fabrication at TSMC using 3nm process technology, with mass production expected in 2026. The training-focused chip will initially be deployed on a limited scale but could expand with future iterations. With Nvidia controlling 80% of the AI chip market, OpenAI joins Microsoft and Meta in exploring alternative chip solutions to cut costs and improve supply chain resilience. The project, led by ex-Google chip expert Richard Ho, has doubled its team and is being developed in collaboration with Broadcom. Source: Reuters

💡 AI-driven businesses should prepare for increased competition in the AI chip space, as in-house silicon development becomes a key differentiator. Companies relying on AI infrastructure must assess their hardware strategy as new players challenge Nvidia’s dominance.

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