{
  "id": 27149,
  "title": "AI: Why Europe is falling behind, and how it can catch up",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/07/16/ai-why-europe-is-falling-behind-and-how-it-can-catch-up",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-07-16T08:15:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "DW Business",
    "slug": "dw-business",
    "url": "https://www.dw.com/en/ai-why-europe-is-falling-behind-and-how-it-can-catch-up/a-77853943?maca=en-rss-en-bus-2091-rdf"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Nobel Prize-winning economist Philippe Aghion fears Europe is falling behind the United States and China in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). Aghion, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in economics with Peter Howitt and Joel Mokyr, warns that Europe risks repeating a similar pattern to the one seen in the wake of the IT revolution. Then, the US fully embraced the changes, while Europe lagged behind, resulting in a significant economic gap today. With AI, the US and China are ahead of Europe in terms of development. Firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are investing heavily in large language models (LLMs) and the computing power required for these models.\n\nHowever, Aghion argues Europe should leverage its strengths in healthcare to develop specialized AI applications. He believes Europe's strong health data and established regulatory framework could make it attractive for ethical AI. Business leaders, such as Thomas Saueressig from SAP, agree and advocate for using AI to boost traditional European industries, like manufacturing. Aghion stresses the need for a better research environment with more long-term funding, increased venture capital, and pension funds to support European startups. He also stresses the importance of harmonizing EU bankruptcy laws and harnessing Europe's private savings, estimated at €12 trillion, to attract venture capital. Aghion even proposes the creation of a French-German DARPA, a US institution that drives technological innovation for military use, to further propel European AI development.",
  "summary": "Europe trails the US and China in artificial intelligence. Economist and Nobel laureate Philippe Aghion says better research funding, venture capital and AI innovation can help it catch up.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}