EU Pushes AI Adoption Despite US Grip on Models, Chips and Distribution
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Nov 11
EU Pushes AI Adoption Despite US Grip on Models, Chips and Distribution
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Nov 11
Summary
Brussels is urging faster AI uptake to lift weak productivity even as that would deepen Europe’s dependence on US technology across models, chips, cloud and consumer distribution channels.
June’s temporary US ban on foreign access to Anthropic’s most advanced models sharpened fears that Washington could weaponize AI access, reinforcing the EU’s push for “tech sovereignty.”
Officials argue Europe can still compete through industrial data, engineering expertise, AI factories and planned gigafactories, especially as AI moves from chatbots into factories and hospitals.
Analysts say the bigger barriers are structural: slow data-centre permitting, weak customer adoption—especially in the public sector—and high energy prices that leave Europe at a lasting disadvantage.
The tension leaves the EU trying to close a productivity gap tied largely to tech while reducing strategic dependence on the US at the same time.