As the AI Summit got underway in Paris on Monday, some 60 European companies — from incumbent industrial giants to AI startups (including France’s LLM-maker Mistral) — signed up to an initiative to help establish Europe as a leader in AI. But the fact that they felt the need to sign up at all highlights the widely held view that Europe is not close to being a leader in AI in the current circumstances. 

The ‘EU AI Champions Initiative’ will be unveiled at the Élysée as part of the AI Action Summit in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, is also slated to join the discussion. Also in attendance will be heads of state from various European governments, including Germany, Poland, and Ireland — but no U.S. or U.K.. 

Perhaps counterintuitively, the initiative is being led by the European arm of a U.S. VC, General Catalyst, driven by the idea that Europe’s approach to AI has been overly complicated and dragged down by regulation.

Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, Managing Director and Head of Europe at General Catalyst, told TechCrunch that established companies and startups have come together to “lean into the adoption of AI”.

“It’s a huge opportunity for the European tech ecosystem,” she went on. “We want to accelerate a functional ‘flywheel’ between the innovators, the startups, and the adopters of AI.”

She said the initiative will engage with the Commission “in a structural process on how we can de-regulate,” suggesting: “Right now, there is a lot of conflict between the Data Governance Act, specific regulations for verticals, let’s say the telco industry or the banking sector… as well as the AI Act and then the whole horizontal nature of that. None of that is standardized.”

The EU’s president has made streamlining the bloc’s rules to foster AI innovation a stated mission of her second mandate, with a European Innovation Act planned — which she wants to include measures to shrink red tape on AI developers, as well as more explicit ecosystem-support measures (like access to funding).

“There are three different regulatory entities that are often in conflict with each other, for example, and for the banking industry or the financial services sector. That’s slowing down the actual adoption of AI,” claimed zu Fürstenberg.

Asked if she thought that the EU champions were effectively criticizing the bloc, she said: “They have given us a great signal that they really want to lean in and want to engage. A lot of the conflict that we’re currently experiencing is not intended. So we are bringing the regulators together with the people that are actually in the field.”

In a supporting statement, Arthur Mensch, Co-Founder & CEO of Mistral AI, wrote: “The EU AI Champions Initiative comes at a pivotal moment for corporate leaders to position Europe at the forefront of AI and transform our economy. The time for debate and small-scale pilots is over. It is now crucial for European policymakers, industry leaders, and startups to fully harness AI’s potential.”

Christophe Fouquet, President & CEO at chipmaker ASML, also offered canned comment, writing: “At ASML, we believe that cutting-edge AI, combined with Europe’s world-class innovation ecosystem, will drive the next era of technological progress. The EU AI Champions Initiative represents an important step in uniting industry leaders to ensure Europe remains at the forefront of AI-driven advancements.”

In another statement, Robin Rombach, Co-Founder, Black Forest Labs, added: “As a German-headquartered startup creating frontier AI foundation models, Black Forest Labs has demonstrated that Europe is a global leader in the development of frontier AI technology. We believe in Europe’s ability to continue to be a global leader in AI and support initiatives that accelerate European efforts in open innovation and cutting-edge technology.”

As part of its initiative, General Catalyst published a report entitled: “An Ambitious Agenda for European AI” which suggests that the adoption of Generative AI could boost Europe’s annual productivity by up to 3% by 2030.

Commenting to TechCrunch, Steve Schlenker, partner of DN Capital in London, told us: “A successful AI strategy in Europe is less about regulation for regulation’s sake, more about ensuring the average EU citizen sees an improvement in their lives.”

Ziv Reichert, partner at Phoenix Court, home to LocalGlobe and Latitude funds, also said: “The EU’s AI Champions Initiative builds on discussions that have long been taking place at both national and enterprise levels. As an early-stage investor, I’m increasingly concerned that founders and startups are being left behind in these conversations — especially as change accelerates.”