The new facility will house more than 100 researchers and joins an expansion announcement from Fujitsu who are set to grow their own presence in the country.

“Great progress on artificial intelligence is happening in France,” President Macron said in a Twitter message. “Samsung chooses France to locate its new research center on artificial intelligence, creating more than 100 jobs. Thank you Young Sohn for taking the leap.”

Samsung and Fujitsu’s announcements have been made ahead of the launch of the French government’s AI initiative. Macron says France was behind in most recent technological advancements but the initiative will help to ensure his country leads in artificial intelligence.

“We missed all the big technological revolutions of recent years, but France has a card to play in the field of artificial intelligence,” said an aide to the president to POLITICO. “Either we seize the chance now, or we watch another wave pass us by.”

Macron’s advisors conceded that France is starting from a difficult position, especially in comparison to China and the United States.

Earlier this month, AI News reported that Macron wants Europeans to relax about the use of their data by AI companies. The comments were made following Macron’s trip to Beijing where he saw the depth and scope of data Chinese researchers have access to in comparison to their European counterparts — making things such as training machine learning models easier.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is often the most cited example of being a particular concern to companies and researchers which rely on the bulk collection of data for their work.

“Very often we hear ‘Where are the British and European Googles and Facebooks?’ Well, it’s because of barriers like this which stop organisations like that being possible to grow and develop,” said Peter Wright, Solicitor and Managing Director of Digital Law UK, in a piece for our sister publication IoT News.

However, with the current outrage over the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, it may be hard to sell the need for more data access to citizens.

Samsung’s new facility is to be based either in Paris or in Saclay.

What are your thoughts on France’s new AI initiative?

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Citizens are increasingly concerned about their use of data, especially following the ongoing investigations into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. AI companies, however, rely on the bulk collection of data for training machine learning models.

Macron wants to ensure France is a leader in AI but says his efforts are being held back by European attitudes to privacy.

The president’s comments are in contrast to EU’s current and upcoming policies which companies are concerned will reduce their abilities when compared to the competition in less restrictive countries.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is often the most cited example of being a particular concern to companies and researchers which rely on the bulk collection of data for their work.

In a piece for our sister publication IoT News, I spoke to Peter Wright, Solicitor and Managing Director of Digital Law UK, who highlighted these very concerns.

“It’s a particular problem when you’re looking at the US, where in places like California they are not under these same pressures,” said Wright. “You’ve got your Silicon Valley startup that can access large amounts of money from investors, access specialist knowledge in the field, and will not be fighting with one arm tied behind its back like a competitor in Europe.”

“Very often we hear ‘Where are the British and European Googles and Facebooks?’ Well, it’s because of barriers like this which stop organisations like that being possible to grow and develop.”

Speaking in Beijing, Macron said the European Union needs to ‘move fast’’ to create ‘a single market that our big data actors can access.’ He said the EU must decide what model it wants to exploit data. His comments were made after witnessing the depth and scope of Chinese data collection.

This may be an uphill proposal for Europeans. In France, 70 percent of people are concerned about personal data collected when they use Internet search engines, according to a December survey.

Do you think Europeans should relax about their data privacy?

The post Macron wants Europeans to relax about data or be left behind in AI appeared first on AI News.