EU pushes new AI strategy to reduce tech reliance on US and China (www.ft.com)

The European Commission has unveiled a renewed AI strategy aimed at reducing the bloc’s dependence on US and Chinese tech providers by building up homegrown capabilities across compute, chips, data and talent. The plan pairs industrial policy with digital regulation — accelerating investment in local data centers and high-performance computing, strengthening semiconductor and GPU supply chains, and coordinating cross-border data spaces — while leveraging the regulatory momentum of the AI Act to promote “trusted” and interoperable systems. Public procurement, R&D grants and skills programs are emphasized to seed European AI ecosystems and foster domestic and open-source model development. For the AI/ML community the strategy signals a shift from reliance on a few hyperscalers and overseas chipmakers toward greater digital sovereignty and supply-chain resilience. Technically, this will influence where and how large models are trained and deployed (more EU-based cloud/HPC capacity, edge/efficient-model emphasis), prioritize secure data governance and portability, and create incentives for energy- and compute-efficient architectures, federated learning, and localized toolchains. It also raises opportunities and friction: new funding and infrastructure could diversify innovation paths, but firms will need to navigate evolving compliance, procurement rules and fragmented standards as Europe seeks to set its own AI stack and norms.