MArio Draghi dreamed of it, Donald Trump announced it. “Stargate”, the megaprojet investment in infrastructure to develop artificial intelligence (AI), unveiled Tuesday, January 21 by Donald Trump, is a simple and effective message that the European Union (EU) is still not in measure to deliver. That of a power which is attached to the objective of being at the forefront of a new technological border. While the EU is still to establish the diagnosis of its economic dropout, pointed out by the Draghi report, the gap threatens to widen even more for the benefit of the United States, which makes a show of force by aligning a political project, technological advance and investment capacity.
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Donald Trump made the voice of a private initiative, which undertakes to pay $ 100 billion (96 billion euros) immediately, then 400 other billion by the end of his mandate, in order to to build, in the United States, immense data centers and the energy system capable of supplying them. At this stage, in Europe, investments in these “AI factories” cap at 1.5 billion euros. The American project will be implemented by the specialist of the Cloud Oracle, the Japanese giant of SoftBank investments, the generative IA start-up Openai.
Even if it should not be abused by the announcement effect, it is necessary to recognize in the United States once again an acute sense of marketing, with a name evocative of the space conquest, significant amounts and a mobilizing story :: “This monumental company is a resounding declaration of confidence in the potential of America under a new president”Vante Trump.
Investment
We can always object that these are investments that were already announced, that actors in the sector did not wait for Mr. Trump to anticipate the current revolution, that funding remains to be mobilized and that 100 000 job creations “Immediate” hold more slogan than economic reality. Nevertheless, it is clear that Europe, once again, will have all the sorrows of the world to reply. Its capacities remain fragmented, its decision-making processes remain laborious, and its ability to attract investments for such projects cannot compete with that of the United States.
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Europe remains curled up on defensive postures in the face of the blows of its rivals. Initiatives are limited to standards, more or less relevant maginot lines and investment sprinkling to give the illusion of action. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, the planet lives to the rhythm of his decrees, while between the end of the mandate of the European Parliament and the first decisions of the new commission expected in the coming weeks it will have sold nearly a year. This operation is no longer suitable for the current world.
To alleviate this cruel contrast, everything is to be reviewed: governance, as a way of mobilizing capital and initiatives. Above all, the twenty-seven must focus on the areas where the union is effective in facing threats to our sovereignty and thwarting the risks of creeping vassalization. But who carries this word? The extremes believe that Europe is the problem, not the solution, while the rest of the political class is content with incantations. Now, it is now that we must act. History never returns the dishes.
