The Commission’s ‘AI continent’ rhetoric sits atop draft laws that would let it override chip supply contracts and keep US providers away from sensitive government data.
The European Commission unveiled its long-delayed technological sovereignty package on Wednesday, a bundle of four measures meant to loosen the bloc’s dependence on American and Asian technology across semiconductors, cloud, artificial intelligence and open source.
The Commission’s own summary cast it in the language of ambition, a route to becoming what it calls an “AI continent.” The accompanying draft texts read more like an attempt to claw back control.
Two of the four instruments carry the weight. The first is a revised Chips Act, billed as Chips Act 2.0, which shifts the emphasis from building factories to building demand for European-made chips.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The original 2023 act poured public subsidies into fabrication plants and fell short of its targets, a gap underlined when Intel scrapped plans for two mega-fabs in Germany.
