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A Test of Europe's Artificial Intelligence

undefined and Senior Global Analyst at RANE

Matthew Bey

Senior Global Analyst at RANE, Stratfor

Apr 12, 2018 | 23:07 GMT

Apple Inc.'s logo adorns a storefront in the Belgian capital. The European Union has struggled to foster the kinds of tech giants that have sprung up in the United States and China.

(EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Aware of Chinese and U.S. firms' strong lead in information technology development, European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron will keep pushing initiatives to encourage innovation in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Macron's belief in the strategic importance of IT will help the European Union move forward on contentious issues such as relaxing data localization laws.
Though European tech companies have made strides in areas such as deep tech — technology that builds on innovations such as blockchain or AI — the EU tech sector will stay in the shadow of its Chinese and U.S. counterparts.

As a tech war shapes up between China and the United States, European powers fear they may get left out. French President Emmanuel Macron recently unveiled an ambitious plan for France -- and the European Union as a whole -- to develop an artificial intelligence ecosystem that could compete with those of China and the United States. Germany, meanwhile, worries that the wave of U.S. and Chinese tech innovation will wash away its critical automotive and industrial robotics sectors. To prevent that outcome, the country has been pushing for more AI development; in fact, Industry 4.0 -- a movement to bring emerging information technology innovations to the manufacturing industry -- is a German concept. The seemingly unstoppable rise of tech giants in the United States and China has forced entrepreneurs and leaders in Europe to react. But solutions such as Industry 4.0 and Macron's initiative won't be enough to bring...

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