State aid for AI: strategic necessity or market distortion?

Abstract This article aims to the assess the interplay between the State aid discipline and the development and uptake of artificial intelligence in the European Union. To this end, the article examines the possible role of State aid in the EU’s AI strategy as well as the main implications for competition, and the emergence of AI in State aid law and soft law, finally proposing some forward-looking possible avenues for the relationship between State aid and AI in the EU.