Opportunities for the EU in emerging technologies

This is a unique moment to jump ahead

With the recent disruptions in trade and international relations I believe there is an opportunity for the EU to take a new leadership role in emerging technologies. These include areas such as:

𝗔𝗜, 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, and 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.

I think that recent events point to the US losing its leadership role in the world. While this change is disruptive and difficult to manage, I am optimistic that it can be turned into an opportunity for the EU.

As someone who grew up in the US and now lives in The Netherlands, and who’s been in the tech game for my whole career, I think the US might have hit its peak (in more ways than one). But listen, I’ve always been a big fan of the US’s go-getter attitude about inventing and making stuff. That’s led to some amazing successes, but now a recklessness is taking some dangerous turns. The super ambitious entrepreneurs of today are selling the public out in so many ways. But are their unicorn dreams starting to fade?

As AI’s business models face massive infrastructure costs and fail to meet unrealistic expectations. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t think AGI will work out with the current approaches. Nor do I think it’s a worthwhile goal. And so I believe we might be entering the next AI winter. As someone who’s been in the field, I don’t see this as a bad thing, but rather a chance to take a step back and explore new avenues (just like the EU needs to do in geopolitics).

𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 to advance:

• 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 - I find that unconventional (even poetic) approaches to AI are more likely to be accepted here than in the US where the focus is on ROI and “solutions.” In contrast, the EU shows more interest and investment in strange new directions that open up different, unexpected opportunities (see Slow AI and my own Animistic Design for example).
• 𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 - There is a willingness here to take the time to develop high quality, big innovations as well as explore the potential risks.
• 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 - Without the excessive resources of rapacious VC firms and massive corporations, entrepreneurs here seem to be able to fashion businesses that can innovate and invent with less than in the US. I think the EU can take a cue from the Chinese company DeepSeek’s clever workaround for a lack of high-end GPUs in this constrained moment.
• 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 - With limited resources, europeans are accustomed to collaborating with others to get things done. And this means working across cultural differences, societal norms, and economic values. This diversity of approaches makes for better outcomes across a range of domains
• 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 - There is a stronger attitude in the EU that what is done or made should benefit the society as a whole and be as fair as possible. The EU can win with fairness!

But there are 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨:

𝗔𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝗺 - I came to Europe thinking the culture was pretty progressive, but to be honest, there is a disappointing amount of sexism here. There is a lot of institutional bias against women, and often more attention is paid to a man’s opinion than a comparable one from a woman
𝗔 𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗖 - In the US there is a finance culture of taking big risks, which really benefits startups. That’s missing here
𝗧𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - Forging new ground takes a certain amount of rule breaking, and that is not always appreciated here
𝗟𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 - I’ve noticed that there is an attitude here of “the US is so dominant that we don’t have a chance.” This lack of confidence inhibits ambitious invention and new ideas

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀:

𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗲 - This challenging moment can be seen as an opportunity to leap-frog ahead
𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 - Learn the right lessons from the Americans and Chinese
𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 - Give women a bigger role and responsibility in making change
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 - More DIY and self-initiative
𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 - Build a European VC ecosystem that can grow a thriving startup environment
𝗕𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝘃𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗵 - Be bold and take on the US on your own terms (and strengths)

What do you think? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻?

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