Let’s Hope Europe Gets Its Tech Act Together

It’s common on social media for Americans to mock Europe for its lack of tech titans. Sometimes frustrated Europeans join the (not always) good-natured ribbing.

And with good reason, as new pieces in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal highlight. In the Financial Times, columnist Rana Foroohar argues that the US is clearly racing away from Europe in AI adoption. Europe is described by one source as “stuck in a holding pattern” due to fragmented markets, slower procurement, tighter labor regulations, and all-around excessive caution. Forrohar notes that this mirrors the 1990s productivity divergence when US companies adopted internet technologies faster. Here they go again, unfortunately.

Then there’s America. Foroohar: 

So far, the US has enjoyed deep structural advantages when it comes to AI deployment, from a labour market flexible enough to absorb disruption, tidal waves of capital from tech giants betting big on infrastructure, a fast and hungry start-up ecosystem and a regulatory environment that mostly gets out of the way.

Over in the Wall Street Journal, “How Europe Is Losing the Global Tech Race, in Five Charts, there’s lots of data supportive of the Foroohar thesis—that Europeans should take to heart. A few stats that really pop out:

• Europe is generating significantly fewer unicorns than China and the US, with the EU having only 107 privately held companies worth over $1 billion (valued at $333 billion combined) compared to China’s 162 ($702 billion) and the US’s dominant 690 ($2.5 trillion).
• European worker productivity has declined from 95 percent of US levels in the late 1990s to under 80 percent today.
• Europe receives only one-fifth the venture capital investment of the US despite similar government R&D spending per person.
• The EU economy is now one-third smaller than America’s and has grown at just one-third the US pace in recent years.
• Europeans work fewer hours than Americans, further constraining economic growth potential.

Yet the New World has every reason to want a more innovative and entrepreneurial Old World. In an era where technological leadership drives global influence, laggard Europe weakens the West as a whole. A Europe capable of building globally competitive firms in AI, clean tech, and advanced manufacturing would be a welcome strategic asset to the United States.

A more dynamic Europe would deepen transatlantic supply chains, spur healthy competitive intensity,  and provide a critical counterweight against China’s growing technological influence, ensuring that the global digital order is shaped by liberal values rather than authoritarian ones. 

Remember: This isn’t a zero-sum game. A more dynamic and innovative Europe means more raw ideas, more real-world advances, and more geopolitical leverage for the democratic world. In the long run, America benefits when its closest allies are not just wealthy and well-educated, but also fast-moving, risk-taking, and capable of helping build the technologies that will define economic and military power for the rest of this century.