Europe's real AI opportunity isn't mimicking Silicon Valley — it's building open, auditable systems that let businesses and hospitals use AI without surrendering data to foreign platforms. Most companies haven't actually transformed with AI; they've just bought licenses and run pilots, meaning the corporate integration race is still wide open. Europe can win that space with smart procurement, open standards and accessible computing rather than chasing foundational model glory.
Europe's AI dependency is a security crisis waiting to happen. When cyber defense relies on frontier AI controlled by American labs, European safety becomes subordinate to Washington's national security priorities, as partner access is decided through classified processes that have no obligation to include European governments or firms. Democratic governance without material AI capacity — compute, talent, capital — is just aspiration masked as policy.
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