Europe’s AI Dependency Risk: Schmidt Warns of Chinese Model Dominance
Europe faces a critical juncture in AI development, with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warning of impending dependence on Chinese open-weight models unless the region invests heavily in domestic alternatives. Speaking at Davos, Schmidt highlighted the divergence between America's closed-source approach (exemplified by Google Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT) and China's push for transparent, open-source systems.
The energy-intensive nature of AI infrastructure poses another hurdle. Schmidt emphasized Europe's need to address soaring power costs and expand data center capacity to remain competitive—a challenge he's tackling through a new venture focused on AI-optimized data centers. His concerns mirror earlier warnings about AI's strain on U.S. electricity grids.
This technological crossroads carries geopolitical implications. Without strategic investment, Europe risks ceding AI sovereignty to Beijing while paying premium prices for restrictive Western systems—a lose-lose scenario Schmidt termed 'suboptimal for European innovation.'
