Canadian and UAE Government Officials Propose Headquarters Relocation
Appealing Subsidies, Tax Benefits, and Regulatory Relaxation
Major foreign media outlets have reported that countries are fiercely competing through lobbying efforts to attract leading AI startups from Europe to their own territories.
According to multiple sources cited by foreign media on the 23rd (local time), AI startups representing various countries, such as Germany's Aleph Alpha, the UK's Synthesia, and StabilityAI, have recently been lobbied by government officials from Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These officials approached the companies, persuading them to relocate by appealing with various subsidies, tax benefits, and regulatory relaxations.
Jonas Andrulis, founder and CEO of Aleph Alpha, stated, "There have been several approaches from outside the European Union (EU)," adding, "We were tempted with the question of whether we wanted to escape the EU's excessive regulations." A company representative said they received relocation offers from Canada, the UAE, Singapore, the UK, and Denmark.
Representatives from Synthesia and StabilityAI explained, "The UAE promised generous tax rebate benefits," highlighting that Mubadala Ventures, the UAE sovereign wealth fund, is making full-scale investments to attract startups to Abu Dhabi and establish a technology hub.
Foreign media noted that the reason multiple countries are vying to attract promising AI companies from Europe is to emerge as competitive nations in the rapidly growing AI industry, surpassing the United States and China.
In Canada's case, it is actively promoting policies such as expedited immigration processing to attract AI companies and researchers. Canada is home to thousands of AI startups, led by 'Cohere,' known for its natural language processing technology, as well as prominent researchers including Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio. Fran?ois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, evaluated, "Canada's competitive economic environment and international status in the AI field are factors that attract companies and talent."
The UAE is also making efforts to attract AI companies by offering 'Golden Visas' to AI talent and opening its large language model (LLM) 'Falcon' for research and commercial use. Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE's Minister of AI, explained, "Currently, more than 1,000 AI-related companies operate in the UAE," adding, "Our goal is to pursue appropriate regulations that are neither too strict nor too lax to ensure smooth business operations."
Foreign media analyzed that the EU's stringent AI regulations could also encourage related startups to leave Europe. Last week, the EU approved the 'AI Act,' considered one of the strictest technology regulations in the world. Companies providing services to European consumers are responding by expanding compliance teams and other measures.
Jonas Andrulis, CEO of Aleph Alpha, said, "Europe's AI law imposes cost burdens on related companies," adding, "I believe focusing on innovation rather than immediate regulatory tightening is better for the future."
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