STOCKHOLM — Europe is at risk of becoming a "museum" if it doesn't soften strict curbs on artificial intelligence technologies and deregulate, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday.
"I think we really need to step up in Europe ... the American economy, Chinese economy have been growing far faster compared to the European economies over the last 20 years," the premier told attendees of the Techarena event in Stockholm.
"If we don't change that, Europe will actually become some kind of a museum compared to other parts of the world," he added.
Kristersson's voice joins a chorus of European leaders who spoke at the Paris AI Action Summit last week, stressing the need for the region become a more competitive player in the global AI race.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a 109-billion-euro ($113.7 billion) investment in AI, which includes commitments from both foreign investors like the United Arab Emirates and U.S. American and Canadian investment funds, as well as domestic firms like Iliad, Orange and Thales.
Macron at the time compared the scale of the investment commitment to the $500 billion Stargate private AI investment venture announced by President Donald Trump last month.