Meta is expanding its AI Startup Program across Europe, spotlighting the region’s innovation potential and the increasing influence of American tech companies in the European AI scene.
The program, in collaboration with AI platform Hugging Face and cloud provider Scaleway, will select five startups to receive mentorship, tools, and computing resources.
While supporters highlight the program’s potential to boost European AI development, it also raises concerns about data privacy and the long-term independence of Europe’s tech sector.
Running from September 2024 to February 2025, the program is based at Paris’ STATION F campus and is open to startups from across the European Union.
Participants will collaborate with Meta’s Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) lab and gain access to open-source AI models like Llama.
Marco Pancini, head of EU affairs at Meta, described the program as an extension of the company’s commitment to open innovation.
“For more than a decade, Meta has been a pioneer in open innovation in AI, and through our publicly available, state-of-the-art AI models, we’ve seen firsthand the impact they can have on the broader community,” he said in a news release.
The first cohort, launched in 2023, supported startups in fields such as robotics, retail technology, and cybersecurity.
Participants included Pollen Robotics, using Meta’s Llama and Segment Anything models for an open-source robotics platform; Fringuant, developing body scan technology for fashion retailers; and Qevlar AI, focusing on enhancing cybersecurity.
