The Race to Build the DeepSeek of Europe Is On

"Against that backdrop, Europe's reliance on American-made AI begins to look more and more like a liability. In a worst case scenario, though experts consider the possibility remote, the US could choose to withhold access to AI services and crucial digital infrastructure. More plausibly, the Trump administration could use Europe's dependence as leverage as the two sides continue to iron out a trade deal. "That dependency is a liability in any negotiation-and we are going to be negotiating increasingly with the US," says Taddeo."

"The European Commission, White House, and UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology did not respond to requests for comment. To hedge against those risks, European nations have attempted to bring the production of AI onshore, through funding programs, targeted deregulation, and partnerships with academic institutions. Some efforts have focused on building competitive large language models for native European languages, like Apertus and GPT-NL."

"For as long as ChatGPT or Claude continues to outperform Europe-made chatbots, though, America's lead in AI will only grow. "These domains are very often winner-takes-all. When you have a very good platform, everybody goes there," says Nejdl. "Not being able to produce state-of-the-art technology in this field means you will not catch up. You will always just feed the bigger players with your input, so they will get even better and you will be more behind.""

Europe relies heavily on American-made AI, creating strategic vulnerability if the US withholds services or uses access as negotiation leverage. European governments and institutions did not provide comment. European nations are pursuing onshore AI production through funding, deregulation, academic partnerships, and projects to build large language models for native languages such as Apertus and GPT-NL. Leading US models like ChatGPT and Claude continue to outperform Europe-made chatbots, reinforcing America's lead in a likely winner-takes-all market. Policymakers face unclear definitions of digital sovereignty, debating whether sovereignty requires full supply-chain self-sufficiency, exclusion of US providers, or merely domestic alternatives.

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