Europe falls behind North America in AI readiness, study shows

A new analysis of roughly 3,000 leading global corporations finds that European companies lag behind their North‑American counterparts in artificial‑intelligence readiness. The average European score is 43.1 on a 0‑100 scale, compared with 48.9 in North America. The gap narrowed slightly from 6.3 to 5.8 points, but the overall level remains lower.

Large European firms (annual revenue above $10 billion) are close to the North‑American average, trailing by only about 2 points, while smaller European companies fall behind by 7.6 points. The study notes that this disparity could threaten the continent’s productive base if AI becomes a privilege of only the biggest players. France showed the strongest improvement, gaining five points, followed by the United Kingdom (+4.8) and Spain (+4.6).