From code to claim: How Europe’s AI factories might fuel patentable innovations

How do we navigate the path from AI's immense potential to a trustworthy, real-world application? This question, central to a recent Codex-hosted event, is one the industry continues to grapple with. The European Commission provided its own definitive answer to this challenge recently. Its ambitious AI Continent Action Plan, published back in April, lays out a concrete, multi-billion euro strategy to build Europe’s AI future. The plan therefore serves as an essential and practical framework for the very opportunities and challenges being debated by industry leaders today.

The AI Continent Action Plan is structured around five key pillars- 

1. Building large-scale AI computing infrastructure - The plan recognizes the need to scale up the European Union’s public AI infrastructure. Towards this end, the plan proposes establishing at least 13 AI factories and up to 5 AI gigafactories across the European Union (EU). The AI gigafactories will be supported by InvestAI facility, that aims to mobilise €20 billion. The goal is to foster innovation and scientific collaboration to train and finetune AI frontier models and tackle forward-looking projects in strategic sectors.
2. Increasing access to high-quality data - The plan also indicates an emphasis on providing access to large-scale, high-quality, interoperable datasets. The aim is to create data labs within AI factories to federate data and provide AI developers with cleaned, enriched datasets. The European Commission will launch Data Union Strategy to streamline compliance and cross-sector data availability.
3. Promoting AI in strategic sectors - The European Commission intends to launch Apply AI Strategy to drive AI adoption in strategic sectors such as manufacturing, pharma, defence, energy, and public services.  AI factories and Digital Innovation Hubs will serve as on-ramps for organizations to test and integrate AI solutions.
4. Strengthening AI skills and talents - To address talent shortages, the EU will launch AI-focussed educational programmes, AI-focussed fellowships, and support legal migration of skilled workers.
5. Simplifying the implementation of AI act - A new AI Act Service Desk will be launched within the European AI office to provide businesses with hands-on compliance support and guidance to navigate the regulatory landscape.

The AI Continent Action Plan signals a decisive shift in European policy: from cautious oversight to proactive enablement. The proposed infrastructure and facilities, improved collaboration between industries and research organizations, and enhanced training in AI disciplines will likely catalyse high-value inventions - particularly in foundational AI models, industrial applications, and algorithmic efficiency. 

More importantly, the AI Continent Action Plan provides a unified approach to regulating AI thereby, providing certainty for businesses that operate in the EU. This unified approach aligns with the legislative changes that the European Union has made in relation to European patents. In particular, a European patent can now be granted with unitary effect across several member states of the EU. The Unified Patent Court (UPC), which opened in June 2023 is a centralized court that handles patent disputes for participating member states.

The unitary patents and the UPC are reshaping how patents are protected and enforced in Europe. Supportive and well-defined legislations and policies, such as the AI Continent Action Plan, will likely increase investments in AI technologies, consequently, increasing patent filings in the EU.