Europe risks falling into a technology “dependency trap” as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes global trade and economic power, according to a new report.
The report from insurance company Allianz argues that the world’s economy is reorganising around tech industries such as cloud computing, data centres and semiconductors, where Europe is weaker compared to the United States and Asia.
Asia dominates the export of AI-related goods with 65% of this part of the world economy and seven of the world’s top 10 AI exporters, in an industry that has exploded from $1 trillion (€880bn) in 2014 to $3.8 trillion (€3.3tn) in 2025.
The US has tripled its AI-related imports since 2023, largely due to the country’s investments in data centres and cloud computing. It is also home to nearly half of the world’s data centres.
Europe’s AI-related imports, meanwhile, have risen by just 40% over the same period, highlighting what Allianz describes as a widening “infrastructure gap”.
