New report: Europe faces risk of exclusion without AI investments

Summary

A report co-authored by Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion and former EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager calls for Europe to allocate 100 billion euros to data centers and attract 1.5 trillion euros in private capital. The report warns that if sovereign computing infrastructure is not established by 2030, the continent will face irreversible marginalization in artificial intelligence.

Why it matters

The report positions AI infrastructure not merely as a commercial issue, but as a matter of strategic sovereignty. It directly links computing capacity to the geopolitical leverage over citizens' employment, security, and economic value creation. With the US and China already scaling aggressively, the 100 billion / 1.5 trillion euro demand provides a concrete benchmark for EU policymakers. Officials are now forced to either finance this resource or publicly justify their inaction. This situation represents a potential turning point for European technology policy.

Highlights

• 100 billion euros in public spending and a targeted 1.5 trillion euros in private investment to increase Europe's share of global computing power from 5% to 15% by 2030
• A proposal for a new Member State Alliance focused on embedding AI supply chain security and AI threats (cyber, biosecurity) into crisis preparedness plans
• The inclusion of Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion and former Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager among the authors adds exceptional interdisciplinary and political weight to the document

Critical take

The report reads more like a high-level wishlist than a funded strategy. No mechanism is explained for how the 1.5 trillion euros in private capital would be mobilized. Energy, permitting, and labor bottlenecks that have already stalled data center projects in Europe are strikingly ignored. While the 'foreign powers' framing is emotionally effective, it leaves the difficult trade-offs (energy policy, regulatory compliance, public debt tolerance) that will determine whether these projects materialize to be addressed by urgency alone.