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Viewpoint: Europe’s AI problem is not merely competition, but control

We do not own the leading-edge AI technology we rely on for research and innovation. We rent it, mostly from US companies

Science|Business, 23 July 2026

(…) Europe’s dependence on foreign-controlled AI has consequences for knowledge production, technological development, economic competitiveness and national security. Access can be withdrawn, restricted or used as geopolitical leverage. (…)

(…) The authors call for European-controlled computing and data infrastructure, frontier AI models that European institutions can scrutinise and adapt, and an independent organisation with the ambition and durability of CERN or the European Space Agency. (…)

(…) “Europe can continue to rent the AI frontier. Or it can build enough of it to remain free.” (…)

Viewpoint: the EU’s ‘CERN for AI’ is nothing of the sort

The European Commission is playing with words. Its initiatives fall far short of what is needed

Science|Business, 29 January 2026

(…) CERN succeeded because European countries established an independent institution through an international treaty, providing it with political legitimacy, scientific autonomy and stable long-term funding. (…)

(…) The authors argue that AI factories and short-term research programmes do not share the characteristics that made CERN successful. Applying the CERN label to these initiatives risks diluting the concept without creating the institution Europe needs. (…)

(…) “The CERN model is more than historical inspiration: it provides a proven blueprint for ambitious scientific collaboration.” (…)

(…) Europe needs “a CERN for AI worthy of the name.” (…)

Trump’s $500B AI plan is ‘slap’ in the face for Europe

The scale of the US Stargate initiative exposes the widening gap between American and European investment in artificial intelligence

Politico, 22 January 2025

(…) The $500 billion Stargate announcement demonstrated the scale at which the United States is prepared to invest in AI infrastructure, while Europe continues to divide its resources across smaller national and EU initiatives. (…)

(…) Holger Hoos, Chair of the Board of CAIRNE, described the announcement as a “‘slap’ in the face” for Europe and a warning that its current level of ambition is insufficient. (…)

(…) Without comparable infrastructure, investment and coordination, Europe risks becoming increasingly dependent on AI technologies developed and controlled in the United States. (…)

Stargate: What is Trump’s new $500bn AI project?

AI giants join forces for a massive project aimed at growing technology in the United States

Al Jazeera, 22 January 2025

(…) The concentration of frontier AI capabilities in a small number of US companies creates risks extending well beyond the technology sector, according to Holger Hoos, Chair of the Board of CAIRNE. (…)

(…) Other countries could lose technological sovereignty, while industries that increasingly depend on advanced AI systems would face a growing competitive disadvantage. US control of these technologies could also provide Washington with political leverage through export controls and sanctions. (…)

(…) “The risk is when cutting-edge AI technology is controlled by few companies all headquartered in the US,” Hoos said. (…)

European AI ecosystem worried about new US export restrictions

European researchers warn that restrictions on advanced AI chips could divide the EU and damage its technological competitiveness

Science|Business, 16 January 2025

(…) The decision to impose restrictions on some EU countries while exempting others caused concern across Europe’s AI community. Holger Hoos warned that treating EU member states differently undermines European unity and exposes the continent’s technological dependence. (…)

(…) The restrictions could affect not only AI research but also industries such as aviation and automotive manufacturing, which increasingly rely on advanced AI technologies and access to state-of-the-art chips. (…)

(…) “This divisive approach by the US is undermining the very idea underlying the European Union,” Hoos said. (…)

EU science advisers back call for a ‘CERN for AI’ to aid research

Expert panel wants the European Commission to give academics more computing power and data to lead AI innovations

Science|Business, 15 April 2024

(…) The European Commission’s chief scientific advisers recommended establishing a state-of-the-art European facility providing researchers with computing power, cloud infrastructure, high-quality data, talent and training. (…)

(…) Holger Hoos welcomed the growing political support for a “CERN for AI”, an idea advanced by CAIRNE since 2018. However, he warned that the proposed institute focused too narrowly on the use of AI in science and lacked the wider ambition required to support European industry, engineering and public administration. (…)

(…) “I believe any moonshot effort needs a visible focal point,” Hoos said. (…)

“Wir hören zu häufig bei Prototypen auf”

CLAIRE and ELLIS receive the German AI Innovation Prize

WELT, 4 October 2021

(…) The 2021 German AI Innovation Prize was awarded jointly to CLAIRE, now CAIRNE, and ELLIS for their contributions to artificial intelligence research and development in Europe. (…)

(…) The jury recognised the two cross-border research networks for seeking to strengthen Europe’s position in global competition with the United States and China. The initiatives bring together researchers and institutions from across the continent and support the development of European AI based on shared values. (…)

(…) The €100,000 award is one of the most highly endowed prizes of its kind in Europe. (…)

Scientists split as Europe paves way for ‘Cern of AI’

Brussels wants to create centre hosting ‘the best talents in the field’, but some researchers doubt that a single organisation can tackle all the challenges

Times Higher Education, 25 February 2020

(…) The European Commission’s proposal for a world-leading AI research centre was described as a step towards the vision promoted by CLAIRE, now CAIRNE. The network had been calling on European policymakers to support an AI research hub modelled on CERN. (…)

(…) CLAIRE proposed combining a central institute with a Europe-wide network. Leading researchers would spend part of their time at the hub, working with dedicated computing facilities while retaining their positions at institutions across Europe. (…)

(…) “‘Critical mass’ is the word that we really like,” said Holger Hoos. “You really have to integrate all of Europe.” (…)

Warning over brain drain of European AI talent to industry

Figures in Elsevier report on AI research landscape are ‘a call to action’


Times Higher Education, 11 December 2018

(…) “European countries need to urgently improve conditions for researchers working in artificial intelligence to stem a brain drain of talent moving from academia to industry, sector leaders have said.” (…)

(…)  “Holger Hoos, professor of machine learning at Leiden University, said that he was “deeply concerned” by the brain drain of researchers from European universities, which he said was “progressing at an alarming rate”.

He has co-launched an initiative called CLAIRE, which already has the support of around 1,400 AI experts. It aims to strengthen pan-European cooperation on AI and hopes to establish a central state-of-the-art AI hub similar in scale to the Cern physics lab in Switzerland.

“We need a massive pan-European effort to coordinate and support excellence in AI research and innovation – an effort that generously supports the very best talent in the field and that matches expertise between academia and industry,” Professor Hoos said.” (…)

UK and EU AI communities will only be globally significant if they work as one

The European Union and the UK will be left behind in artificial intelligence research and development if they take separate paths after Brexit

Computer Weekly, 22 January 2020

(…) Asked whether the UK AI community will play a role in the organisation after Brexit, [Holger] Hoos said: “You bet, at least if we have anything to say about it.” (…)

(…) “[Hoos said:] “We made it very clear that no matter what happens with Brexit and the relationship between the EU and the UK, in AI we should work together.”

The EU and the UK will have to work closely together if they are to have any significance in global AI developments, said Hoos. The US and China are the biggest players, but there is an opportunity for another region to set a new path, he added. “China and the US are very different to each other and different to Europe in how AI is seen going forward.” (…)

“We want to help ensure that Europe can play a leading role in AI research and innovation,” [Hoos] said. “We believe, as many do, that AI is a very important set of technologies going forward, not only for economic prosperity, but for the benefit of society. We therefore think it is very important that Europe as a geographic region is doing the right thing with AI in order to remain competitive and do the right thing for European citizens.”

How Europe can improve the development of AI

Its real clout comes from its power to set standard

The Economist, 20 September 2018

(…) “To be successful in the global push for AI, Europe needs to stand united; weakly coordinated national AI initiatives are insufficient to compete globally.” (…)

(…) “to become a powerhouse in AI, Europe will have to overcome its divisions, digital and otherwise” (…)

See also CLAIRE’s brief memorandum, “Memo on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe: Funding and Positioning“, created after the prominent coverage on AI in Europe in the Economist.

This memo is intended for decision makers at the national and EU levels, and addresses the 5 main points of the Economist articles “Can the EU become another AI superpower?” and “How Europe can improve the development of AI”:

To be successful in the global push for AI, Europe needs to stand united; weakly coordinated national AI initiatives are insufficient to compete globally.

Over 2,000 European AI experts join hands to challenge US, China in artificial intelligence

More than 2,000 researchers join forces to urge EU to help continent build ‘Google-style’ infrastructure as counterweight to the two leading AI players

South China Morning Post, 21 September 2018

(…) “[Philipp Slusallek] said one of the main goals of [CLAIRE] was to nurture AI talent and retain it in Europe. This could be accomplished by setting up dedicated AI research and development centres throughout the continent, which would provide “Google-scale” infrastructure such as computing power and data centres, he said.” (…)

(…) “In recent years some major exponents of the field such as Yann LeCun, founder of Facebook’s AI Research lab, and Google Brain’s Geoffrey Hinton were born and educated in European countries but moved to North America to continue their work.” (…)

(…) “Europe spent about US$4 billion on AI research in 2016 while China spent US$7 billion, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute last year. But this was dwarfed by the figure for North America which was estimated to be about US$23 billion.” (…)

Coverage of CLAIRE Launch (June 2018)

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 18 June 2018 – Front page article.
One of the most prominent and widely read daily newspapers in Germany.


The NOS 20:00 Evening News and corresponding article, 18 June 2018.
NOS is one of the main public TV stations in the Netherlands.
The article starts at 4:50, in Dutch, but Holger Hoos is interviewed in English from 5:45.

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