Allied For Startups' Position on the Apply AI Strategy

Startups are Europe’s best hope for driving cutting-edge AI innovation. They bring agility, experimentation, and new business models – qualities that Europe’s larger industries often lack. Yet, today’s policy frameworks can be overly complex and burdensome for smaller players, risking sidelining the very innovators who can propel Europe forward in the global AI race.

Allied For Startups urges the Commission to ensure the Apply AI Strategy puts startups at the heart of Europe’s AI ambitions.

What is the Apply AI Strategy?

The Apply AI Strategy, set to launch in Q3 2025, is poised to establish Europe as a global frontrunner in AI adoption and innovation. This initiative is crafted to expedite the integration of AI across key sectors, unleash productivity enhancements, and bolster Europe’s technological independence. By concentrating on specific sectors and aiding public services, the Strategy aims to revolutionise the role of AI in fostering competitiveness and economic growth.

The Apply AI Strategy will outline Europe’s vision for implementing AI across various industries and public services, cultivating a vibrant ecosystem where AI drives economic transformation. It will set benchmarks for the next three to five years and leverage crucial facilitators like AI Factories, data spaces, and digital innovation hubs. The goal is to foster industrial AI adoption, support scientific innovation, and strengthen Europe’s digital leadership.

What AFS proposes:

• Keep regulation workable and proportionate: Rules must be clear, stable, and designed with startups in mind;
• Support startup-friendly AI infrastructure: AI Factories and AI Gigafactories should be accessible to startups, providing the compute resources, data, and testing environments they need to thrive;
• Foster collaboration: Europe’s large industries must integrate startup partnerships and pilots into their strategies, not treat them as an afterthought;
• Clarify the rules on generative AI: While generative AI holds huge promise, regulatory uncertainty around foundation models can chill innovation. The AI Act’s risk-based approach should remain stable and not introduce extra burdens on startups.

For Europe to lead globally, the Apply AI Strategy must ensure startups can fully participate, that industrial champions embrace startup collaboration, and that Europe’s regulatory environment enables – not stifles – innovation.

Startups will build the systems that define Europe’s place in the global AI economy. Let’s make sure the Apply AI Strategy empowers them to lead the way.