Europe at "acute risk of marginalisation" unless billions in AI funding committed, warns new report
Tech.eu John Reynolds
Europe’s tech advisers want €100 billion for AI data centres and a lot more EU funding. They say without it, the bloc could end up dependent on US and Chinese power.
Based on reporting by Tech.eu, John Reynolds — read the original for the full story.
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A new European report is making a blunt case: if Europe wants any say in the AI era, it needs to build real computing muscle at home. The headline number is €100 billion for data centres, with the aim of lifting Europe’s share of global computing power from 5 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030. The authors also say that private investors could be drawn in for another €1.5 trillion.
The report, Transformative AI Strategy for Europe, comes from more than a dozen senior policymakers, economists and AI experts. Among them are Philippe Aghion and Margrethe Vestager, and the message is not subtle. Europe, they warn, risks becoming permanently dependent on a small group of foreign governments and individuals if it keeps its AI infrastructure elsewhere.
A big part of the plan is practical, not mystical. Make it easier to build data centres across the bloc. Bring frontier AI expertise and technology into EU institutions. Set up a Member State Alliance for AI supply chain security. And fold AI threats into crisis preparedness plans so the continent is not improvising when cyberattacks or biosecurity problems show up.
The report argues that stronger infrastructure on European soil would do more than keep up appearances. It would give Europe better access to frontier AI models, help institutions avoid falling behind other global powers, and reduce reliance on US and Chinese technology. That’s the strategic bet: build the pipes first, or accept that the most important decisions will be made somewhere else.
Vestager’s warning in the report is the sharpest version of that argument. If value is created outside Europe, she says, the region will have fewer tools to deal with the social and economic changes AI brings. The authors say the clock is already ticking, and that governments and the Commission can act now.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is the rare Brussels AI take that sounds awake. Europe has spent years talking about sovereignty while renting the plumbing from everyone else, which is a very elegant way to lose the future. Build the compute, or keep writing stern reports about why the compute matters.
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