【By Observer Net, Qi Qian】

In recent years, the escalating Sino-US competition has caused deep anxiety in the EU, fearing falling behind China and the US in technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI).

According to a report by the UK's Financial Times on October 5, after the Trump administration came into power, the EU is eager to change the current "reliance on the US, not as good as China" situation in AI development. Currently, the EU is preparing to launch a new plan aimed at promoting local AI platforms and reducing reliance on foreign suppliers, to compete with China and the US in the global revolutionary technology race.

A draft proposal seen by the Financial Times shows that the European Commission's proposed "Application AI Strategy" will promote European local AI tools to provide "security and resilience," while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU's industry.

According to the introduction, the strategy emphasizes the need to improve the use of AI in areas such as healthcare, defense, and manufacturing in Europe.

The draft states that the European Commission aims to "strengthen the EU's AI sovereignty" by accelerating the development and use of local AI technologies, including formulating policies to "accelerate the adoption of European scalable and replicable generative AI solutions by public administrations."

The report said that this strategy will be proposed by the EU's Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen on the 7th, and the specific content may change before being made public.

EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen

The draft warns that the current "external dependency" of the EU in the AI technology stack could be "weaponized" by "other countries and non-state actors," posing risks to the EU's AI supply chain. The AI technology stack refers to the infrastructure and software required to build, train, and manage AI applications.

The draft also mentions that the EU's public administrations play a central role in "helping AI start-ups grow by increasing demand for European-made open-source AI solutions."

The Financial Times pointed out that these concerns have intensified since Trump returned to the US presidency. There is widespread attention within the EU about the current reliance on US technology, and there is an increased call for European digital independence. At the same time, China's rapid AI development is challenging the US's global leadership in this field, which has made the EU very anxious, fearing a significant reduction in its influence over this technology in the future.

According to reports, in recent years, many AI start-ups have established their headquarters in European countries. However, the EU still relies on the US and Asian countries for the software, hardware, and key minerals needed for AI development.

On the local time of the 3rd, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated at an event that the EU hopes to "comprehensively accelerate the adoption of AI" through the application AI strategy to ensure that Europe does not miss out on this new technology.

According to reports, the EU hopes to position AI not only as a productivity tool but as a "strategic asset" that must be closely integrated into EU institutions, industries, and security systems. To implement actions in the strategy, such as supporting the adoption of AI in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors, the European Commission is mobilizing 1 billion euros from existing funding programs.

Additionally, the EU also hopes to prioritize the use of EU-local AI tools in the defense sector, including accelerating the development and deployment of European AI-supported command and control (C2) capabilities. It is reported that the European armies currently rely heavily on US-provided C2 capabilities.

Last September, the EU released the "Draghi Report"

In fact, a year ago, the EU had already realized the gap between Europe and China and the US in the technology field.

Last September, the European Commission announced that it formally launched a bidding process to establish an AI factory to enhance AI competitiveness. At the same time, the EU released the "Draghi Report" aimed at enhancing competitiveness. Von der Leyen said at the time that Europe must strive to become a global leader in AI innovation.

However, the CEO of chip giant NVIDIA, Huang Renxun, said last October that the EU is far behind the US and China in AI investment and must accelerate the development of artificial intelligence. Each country has realized that data is a national resource.

This September, Deutsche Bank released a research report stating that Europe is struggling to narrow the innovation gap with China and the US. The report showed that the follow-up implementation of the "Draghi Report" was disappointing. As of September 4, only 11.2% of the recommendations had been fully implemented. Even when partially advanced content is taken into account, the progress of the agenda is less than one-third.

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