The British government is centring an incredible amount of its economic strategy on the performance of the AI sector.
It is a race that every nation wants to win, and one the UK seems uniquely able to, at least in the context of Europe. By most metrics, the UK is considered a top three market for AI, alongside the US and China, which is similarly the case when looking at the broader global tech industry.
However, for all of the UK’s brilliant researchers, talented entrepreneurs, bullish politicians and ambitious investors, there have been more than a few warning signs that, given enough time, European AI could be centred around France.
The two allies have both put AI at the heart of their economic growth agendas, pledged billions in investment for the sector, hosted international summits on AI safety and have had their leaders personally speak ad infinitum.
The UK may be in possession of an enviable collection of qualities for any tech-ambitious nation, but France is hot on its heels with a serious desire to invest and a handful of A-list AI companies already propping up its industry, including Mistral and Poolside.
The points of comparison between British and French AI ambitions were brought well into the foreground earlier this month when both Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron delivered keynotes on the state and future of the technology within days of each other at their respective nation’s flagship tech events, both accompanied by NVIDIA chief executive Jensen Huang.
While the two leaders’ talks seem like they would be predictably similar, for OpenUK’s chief executive Amanda Brock, who attended both Starmer’s London Tech Week talk and Macron’s VivaTech speech, the difference was stark.
Referring to the latter, Brock said Macron oozed charisma and audience engagement like he was “born to do it”, with a “crowd of French business and tech people eating out of his hand”, Starmer’s address, however, came across as devoid of “innovation and creativity”.
“There’s an old saying, to walk like a candidate, and to walk like a candidate in the tech sector today means to walk like a Bay Area founder and we just aren’t doing it.”
An onstage performance may seem trivial, but for Brock, when you are trying to rally a community together with a shared sense of purpose to grow your nation’s standing in what could be the most important sector globally soon, communication matters.
“It’s that inspirational leadership that drives the conversation forward and engages people in a room.”
“We’re not seeing that pulling together and that sense of identity that I think we need to see to move forward with more force.”
Brock’s envy of the French strategy goes beyond communication, however. For the OpenUK boss, Macron has an onstage presence backed by a genuine hunger for action as well as words.
She described the UK’s current investment pledges, particularly the £2.5bn announced this month by Chancellor Rachel Reeves for the sector, as not meeting “the scale that we have to be”.
Whereas Macron’s announcements, from the €109bn (£93bn) private investment plan to the €8bn (£6.8bn) announced at VivaTech, were “the right scale for France and its positioning”.
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