Europe's second chance on AI: building an opportunity in factories, labs, and the real economy | Fortune

"The internet era created extraordinary wealth elsewhere. The same holds true for the recent AI wave, mainly driven by online chatbots created by the data-rich Big Tech giants which have grown up in the internet era. Europe, despite its talent and financial strength, became the least competitive of the major digital economies-and the resulting gap in value creation has grown into the trillions."

"The next round of AI innovation will not be won solely in chat windows. It will be won where intelligence meets matter: in robotics and manufacturing, in chemistry and materials, in bio-pharma and healthcare, in energy systems, logistics networks, and industrial operations. In other words: in the physical and scientific domains."

"Three key factors may prove more critical going forward than they did in the previous internet-dominated AI era: (1) scientific talent; (2) industrial strength and know-how; and (3) ecosystems across multiple sectors. Interestingly these are all areas where Europe's strengths lie."

Europe has lagged behind in the digital economy for three decades, missing opportunities to build globally dominant technology companies despite strong research and regulatory influence. The internet era and recent AI wave, driven by data-rich Big Tech giants, created trillions in value elsewhere. However, the emerging AI era presents a historic second chance for Europe. While current AI investment focuses on massive foundation models, data centers, and computational scale, the next innovation wave will shift toward applying intelligence to physical and scientific domains: robotics, manufacturing, chemistry, materials science, bio-pharma, healthcare, energy systems, and industrial operations. Europe possesses critical competitive advantages in these areas through scientific talent, industrial strength and expertise, and diverse sector ecosystems.

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