Overview

• The European Commission launched the Apply AI strategy with €1 billion drawn from Horizon Europe and the Digital Europe programme to catalyse uptake across priority sectors.
• Measures include sector pilots such as AI-powered screening centres in healthcare, ‘acceleration pipelines’ for manufacturing, autonomous-driving test cities, and a farmer-focused app store.
• Officials framed the push as a sovereignty move, urging preference for European solutions in public procurement and warning that dependencies across the AI stack pose supply‑chain risks.
• Support for compute and research spans free access to EU supercomputers for model competitions, AI Gigafactories, and the RAISE initiative, which has €600 million for AI in science.
• With only about 13–14% of EU firms using AI, the Commission set a 75% adoption goal by 2030 and created an Apply AI Alliance and AI Observatory, though industry groups seek clearer execution details and co‑funding plans.