Step one will result in the collapse of the pension system. We need to first make the pension system more robust before proceeding to roll out air conditioning across the continent.

Step zero: make energy as cheap as possible... no taxes on it

I think this view stems mainly from the fact that we don’t have any big names like Anthropic or OpenAI, and that Europe is a bit slow off the mark. We do indeed have many promising tech start-ups, and plenty of talent, particularly in the field of AI. However, you don’t hear anything about many of these start-ups, as they often do not work on the flashy stuff. I would even go so far as to say that Europe is generally a continent where many influential companies fly under the radar. We simply don’t have any ‘rock stars’ like the US does. What we can actually be criticised for is squandering potential. Many promising and potentially disruptive developments remain confined to the universities. Unlike in the US, start-ups aren’t so easily set up here and showered with venture capital. However, we are not following the Chinese model either, where tech start-ups are bankrolled by the government - and I think we have atleast to choose for one of these models to accelerate development.

> immediate threats (e.g. he crisis in Ukraine)

I have been invited in one of the UA/EU UAV cooperation programs. The largest government body is behind this program. The invitation was a 38-page PDF, out of which 36 pages were dedicated to regulatory compliance and <2 pages about actual requirements for the product.

No, EU will not reconsider their beliefs.

Europe’s biggest problems are a cultural superiority complex (we’re better than brutish Americans who only care about money), combined with deep seated racism (we’re better than our former colonies, eg China), and a heavy dose of denialism (buying cheap Russian oil could never bite us in the ass).

Thinking you’re superior to everybody else and sticking your head in the sand isn’t exactly the recipe for success.

There’s also a huge talent drain: many Europeans who realize the superiority complex isn’t built on solid foundations - particularly in science, engineering, research, and development - leave to the US because they want to be with the best, which aren’t solely Americans, it’s people from around the world who aggregate in the US.

Europe has a brief window to be the new global talent hub as MAGA is attempting to destroy the US edge from within, but Europe is absolutely blowing it with mini-MAGA movements instead.

Europe has a lot to offer, but it needs to get real about where it stands in the world.

I am not sure whether an average European is more risk averse than an average American or Chinese. This is hard to measure. But in general, technological progress mostly does not depend on average people, and we have more than enough young warriors to try new things. Unfortunately the regulatory environment pushes them out to North America, where you don't have to jump through so many bureaucratic hoops.

Now the funny thing: everyone I talk to agrees that Europe is overregulated and that the amount of paperwork is unhealthy. But everyone also seems to have their own pet regulation that they will defend to death, and the sum of those pet regulations is basically the entire suffocating code. After all, those papers usually aren't brainchild of the bureaucrats themselves; they came into being as a result of lobbying of special interests, and those special interests usually still exist and are vigilant about protecting their achievements.

I am not sure if anyone, anywhere ever achieved an actual significant reduction of bureaucracy (say, by 30-40 per cent or more) by anything less than a societal collapse or a debellatio during a military defeat, Germany 1945 style. This seems to be the hardest, most intractable societal problem of entire humanity. Not cancer, not aging - we can probably conquer both. But an endless aggregation of more and more papers until the entire machine stops in its tracks.

I just had an across-fence talk with my neighbor, who is a retired teacher. She is not that old, and she told me that she retired voluntarily after the balance of her work shifted to "I spent more time filling out questionnaires and records than actually teaching kids".

Oof.

As a European, I see the word "change" used all the time as if it is a good thing. Change is good, bad or indifferent depending on circumstances. It is not automatically progress.

I just don't think we are able to do things. Language and countries split us apart.

Americans have one big internal market. Chinese as well. Indians - also.

In Europe? We just can't, you need to start in one country, you need to localise your products, then offer support in various languages, and I didn't even start to say anything about various tax laws or laws in general in other countries of the Union.

I believe that's the biggest issue we have and it will never be resolved.

"AI isn't sustainable" is a completely meaningless statement but exemplary of the thought patterns of the bumper sticker thought compression of the social media addict.

Agreed. https://isaiprofitable.com/

>It will collapse and take a big chunk of the US economy with it.

I got news for you. If the US economy goes down, EU goes down with it, just like in 2009.

Anthropic and OpenAI have seen consistent revenue growth, as have their Chinese peers like Alibaba and DeepSeek.

While some aspects of AI are overstated, it has had a very real and tangible impact at least in the US and China in a number of white collar roles.

Additonally, the fact that China is allocating $295B [0] for an AI buildout as is the US [1] and are using it to also help their domestic GreenTech and DeepTech ecosystems means the AI boom is having a downstream impact in multiple sectors.

EU states already missed out on the Dotcom, Social Media, Cloud, IoT, EV, and GreenTech booms at the expense of the US and China. If your sentiment is the norm within Europe, then both the US and China are correct to view the EU states as junior partners. States that control the technological frontier also control their destiny.

[0] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-prepares-295-billi...

[1] - https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/insights/energy-and-...

We have nice art, though. And pretty old towns. We are well-positioned to be a Disneyland for the Chinese.

indeed this. Idiotic policies and choices around green energy is killing europe, we struggle with energy prices in the winter for heating, nevermind energy for AI datacenters. And why would anyone start an AI company in europe? It's like picking hard mode over just doing it in the US. I honestly, see a bleak future for europe, and it saddens me as an european.

> you have some pocket change to spend

Bear in mind that at this point you will owe in taxes multiple times over what your whole company is worth.

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