PARIS — The chairman of global advertising firm Publicis is urging France and Germany to take the lead in establishing a large-scale European artificial intelligence fund, warning that companies across the continent face serious risks from their heavy dependence on American technology providers.
Maurice Lévy made the call Tuesday at the VivaTech conference in Paris, arguing that Europe needs a 100 billion euro — roughly $115 billion — fund dedicated to supporting artificial intelligence development across the bloc.
Lévy said the urgency behind the proposal stems from what he described as a wake-up call: European companies losing access overnight to cutting-edge AI models from U.S. startup Anthropic, with no advance warning.
“There is a need to create a fund at a European scale,” Lévy told Reuters. “It’s a bit like having someone with an on/off switch… who can flip it at will.”
Lévy acknowledged the concept is not entirely new, pointing to previous efforts by France and Germany to strengthen digital cooperation, as well as a push he credited to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
He stressed that Europe must treat artificial intelligence as a matter of strategic importance, arguing that continued reliance on foreign providers could undermine the competitiveness of European businesses — and in some cases, threaten their very survival.
