Europe’s drive for sovereign AI has rarely looked more urgent, yet the infrastructure meant to carry it may not be ready.
As Washington tightens access to its most capable models and Brussels leans harder into the case for European AI sovereignty, a new survey from Onnec warns that the continent’s ambitions could be strangled by the plain physics of building and powering data centres.
US restrictions on access to advanced AI models have sharpened the appetite for home-grown alternatives, giving European operators a reason to treat sovereign cloud as a commercial prospect rather than a policy talking point.
Onnec’s numbers suggest that shift in mood is already showing up in the industry’s own expectations.
The infrastructure specialist said 74% of data centre operators believe sovereign cloud represents a significant opportunity for European operators over the next three years.
