Swedish AI Commission Urges SEK 12.5 Billion Investment to Boost AI Leadership

Swedish AI Commission Urges SEK 12.5 Billion Investment to Boost AI Leadership
The Swedish Government must invest SEK 12.5 billion (over USD 1.14 billion) over five years to remain competitive in artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Swedish AI Commission. The commission, chaired by Carl-Henric Svanberg, former Ericsson CEO, and supported by Ericsson President and CEO Borje Ekholm as an expert, presented its Roadmap for Sweden report to Minister of Civil Affairs Erik Slottner on Tuesday, November 26.

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Role of Telecoms in AI Adoption

The report outlines 75 measures to address AI-related needs across telecoms, research, energy, data, security, and the public sector. The Commission recommends forming a task force reporting directly to the Prime Minister to oversee implementation. It estimates costs to be about SEK 2.5 billion per year for the first five years.

On telecoms, the Commission emphasised that fast and stable mobile connectivity is a prerequisite to realising the potential of AI in Sweden. However, the fragmented telecoms market and regulation, including EU regulation, were highlighted as industry challenges, according to Ericsson.

“The AI Commission sees the government’s decision to appoint an inquiry to accelerate the deployment of 5G and fiber in Sweden as an important step in the right direction,” the report reads, according to Ericsson. “The investigation must propose additions and adaptations to meet the requirements of the EU gigabit infrastructure regulation. This EU regulation aims to reduce the costs of the expansion of high-speed networks for electronic communication.”