European Union Proposes Tech Sovereignty Measures to Escape Big Tech and the U.S.

The EU has proposed new policies to help it escape from the abuses of Big Tech and an untrustworthy U.S. government. The hope is to position Europe as an “AI continent” by focusing on boosting computing infrastructure, data, skills and AI adoption in Europe.

“We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable, and our services secure,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. “This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base, and the Single Market. Together, we must turn these strengths into technological sovereignty.”

This package includes two related legislative proposals that could become EU law within a year.

The first is Chips Act 2.0, an expansion of the European Chips Act regulation from 2023 that aimed to reinforce the EU semiconductor ecosystem by protecting supply chains and reducing external dependencies.  An update is needed because Europe still relies heavily on outside countries for advanced production and chip design, and the rise of AI is expected to drive dramatic growth in this industry.

The second component to this package is a Cloud and AI Development Act that aims to triple datacenter capacity in Europe over the next five to seven years, support research and innovation, and balance the continent’s AI ambitions with its climate commitments.

Tied to these proposals, the EU has an Open Source Strategy that it says will help it scale up open technology solutions in cloud AI, Internet technologies, cybersecurity, and semiconductors while investing in open source skills and startups and improving the long-term maintenance and security of Europe’s open-source digital infrastructure.

With these proposals, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will negotiate the details before adopting them and entering them in force.