Europe lags behind US and China in artificial intelligence race

European companies are falling significantly behind American and Chinese competitors in the artificial intelligence sector. While firms like France’s Mistral have pursued open-weight models, they have struggled to achieve the same level of market dominance or user adoption seen in the US and China.

This technological gap creates risks for European nations, potentially leaving domestic companies dependent on foreign technology and shifting technological power away from the continent. A primary driver of this disparity is the gap in technology adoption; US and Chinese institutions are aggressively integrating AI into business processes, investing hundreds of billions of dollars to automate workflows.

Furthermore, the European AI Act is facing criticism regarding its relevance. Tech leaders from Microsoft and Google DeepMind have suggested that existing regulations may already be outdated due to the rapid pace of technological development. While the European Commission maintains that the framework is robust and prepared for AI agents, some EU member states, including Hungary and the Czech Republic, have identified regulatory gaps concerning internal model testing and corporate liability for autonomous agents.