European tech CEOs are calling on the region to make bold moves to reduce its dependence on U.S. technology and challenge Big Tech's stranglehold-at least in areas like AI—on which the region should focus first.
The call for the move gained steam after the election of Donald Trump, who rekindled talk on the potential future of global tech relations during the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
A 'Europe-First' Strategy
Proton CEO Andy Yen, the leader of Swiss VPN developer Proton, challenged Europe to view technological independence as a priority. He told CNBC that the EU region thinks in a "very globalist mindset," which means that they only want everyone to be fair.
"Well, guess what? The Americans and the Chinese didn't get the memo. They have been playing extremely unfairly for the last 20 years. And now they have a president that is extremely 'America-first.'"
For example, ProtonVPN, which not only serves as a VPN but also encrypts user data and provides an IP address mask, is just an example of how Europe can innovate in safeguarding its digital sovereignty.
Europe's Struggle Against Big Tech
The European Union, as far back as it can remember, has taken legal and regulatory measures to curb the influence of these giants like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta. And with Trump coming back to power, Europe will likely roll over once more.
Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Foundation's former CEO, lauded the EU Digital Markets Act for forcing actual change. She described how "a recent 'choice screen' from Google on Android phones significantly increased market share in Firefox." But she warns that efforts in this direction only scratch the surface of the systemic outcomes of centralized power by Big Tech.
The Struggle for AI Autonomy
The other key focus area in the Web Summit was to assert "AI sovereignty." In fact, European leaders urged localization of AI infrastructure reflecting regional languages, cultures, and values. This balances big U.S. firms like Microsoft, which has solidified its place in AI by supporting OpenAI as well as AI tools on all its platforms.
Christian Kroll, CEO of Ecosia, took on Microsoft. He said that Microsoft has been gradually reducing their revenue and this also signals that the tech giant is reducing their capacity to do more things.
Building a Resilient Europe
Meanwhile, Thomas Plantenga, the CEO of Vinted, asked Europe to look toward long-term self-sufficiency. He added that the EU should make the "right choices" so the countries won't get left behind in development.
In other news, The Verge reports that Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, and Uber congratulated Trump on becoming the returning US President.
While the US-based tech giants were aware of the huge changes that the Trump admin imposed, TikTok may finally face the ban following Donald's victory.
Not only that big ban can happen after Trump returns to the White House. For gamers, you need to brace for the worst shopping season to come. If you have time to upgrade right now, do it immediately since Trump's tariff plans might ruin your gaming upgrade plans by next year.
