This three-part series is published in partnership with the AI Now Institute. Across this four-part series, we have argued that Europe's AI ecosystem is subject to the gravitational pull of dominant US players. Even where European AI companies succeed, value tends to flow upstream to US AI labs and, ultimately, hyperscalers — firms that are simultaneously Europe's indispensable infrastructure providers and its competitors.We also showed how the response from Brussels has been to reach for the tools of the market: boosting supply by co-financing gigafactories or funding consortia to build models, channeling institutional savings into VC and growth equity, paired with deregulation and looser labor restrictions. The hope is that European AI companies, especially in health, manufacturing, defense, or legal, can replicate Silicon Valley's flywheel dynamic, in which successful startups produce exits, exits recycle capital and experienced operators back into the ecosystem, and the ecosystem produces more startups.The internal logic of all these interventions is the same: once Europe removes regulatory friction, unlocks domestic capital, and concentrates its efforts where it can plausibly win, Europe will become sovereign. In Europe’s response, AI's trajectory is treated as a natural phenomenon: something Europe must respond to but cannot shape. A tsunami to brace for, or a wave to ride, but never a tide that could be turned.What these interventions never explain is how they would…

Because you read this