French tech mogul Xavier Niel don warn say Europe go turn to ‘abandoned’ continent if e miss dis crucial opportunity

If anything dey buzz for di tech world, chances dey high, na Xavier Niel talk dis one as e don catch wind of am.

Di hacker wey turn entrepreneur get sprawling telecom empire, e dey sit on TikTok parent Byte Dance five-member board, and e be major startup champion, counting French darling Mistral AI among him investments.

Di billionaire don get keen eye on tech developments throughout him career.

But e don also witness Europe dey slip behind di U.S. and China for innovation.

Europe don produce some promising startups amid di generative AI frenzy, like Mistral AI and Aleph Alpha.

However, di region go need do plenty more to keep up with di global AI race.

Niel warn say Europe get real shot to show dia promise and creativity for di AI front.

But if dem miss di boat, dem fit cease to be relevant.

“If Europe no do dis right, e go become very small continent abandoned for few generations,” e tell di Financial Times for interview wey dem publish Sunday.

Wetin differentiate European AI startups na dia “values,” like privacy and transparency, Niel talk.

E also dey generate engineering and mathematics-focused talent for its universities, wey fit give di region edge if e move fast and break things, as di saying go.

“Sure, di world dey move faster now; di resources dey greater.:

“But there go always be two clever kids somewhere for di world, wey dey work out of garage, with technological vision or new idea,” Niel talk.

Di French mogul, wey dem estimate to worth $8.7 billion according to di Bloomberg Billionaires Index, dey at di center of AI developments.

Him optimism for Europe AI prowess don lead am to develop di world biggest startup incubator for Paris, Station F.

E don also co-invest $300 million for nonprofit AI research lab alongside Eric Schmidt and Rodolphe Saadé.

Still, e dey worry say if Europe fail to ride di AI wave, e go reduce to “di nicest place for di world for museums,” Niel tell Wired for September.

E liken di current AI moment to wen search engines become mainstream.

Today dem dey largely run by American players, like Google and Microsoft Bing.

“If you wan create search engine now from scratch, you no fit win because you no dey there 25 years ago,” e talk.

Oda experts don also dey concerned about Europe trailing behind and how dat fit impact di region security and defense prospects compared to di rest of di world.

Wetin Niel tout as one of Europe strengths don also lead to di perception say e dey regulate AI too harshly, dey push competitors out of its market.

Di European Union pass first-of-its-kind draft of AI rules, wey some see as groundbreaking while others think say e dey restrictive.

For in-depth report into Europe competitiveness, former ECB President Mario Draghi highlight say AI fit open up new opportunities if dem deploy am correctly.

Meanwhile, German tech company SAP CEO Christian Klein talk say overregulation dey risk to hold Europe startups back.

Di likes of Meta Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify Daniel Ek issue open letter for September echoing similar concerns, dey urge Europe to fix its “fragmented and inconsistent” regulations on AI.

Companies on di Fortune 500 Europe list, wey rank di region biggest companies by revenue, dey slowly but surely integrate AI into advanced applications.

Ultimately, Europe strategy for addressing challenges fit determine whether e go be winner or loser.

“Put simply, developing, launching, or just using technology dey harder for Europe than e dey anywhere else for di world.

To stay in di global race, di EU need new approach, mitigating di risks of new technology while enabling innovation,” Google EMEA president Matt Brittin tell Fortune last month.

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