Davos 2026

The Davos world economic summit has been characterized to be centered on three subjects: Trump, AI, and Big Tech. These three subjects are deeply interconnected.

Can Europe free itself from US technology?

American-produced technology is present in all sectors of the economy, worldwide, and therefore in Europe:

As Europe is now looking to separate its interests from America, there is a push to create new technologies with the aim to replace American brands by Europe grown products.

Until now, Europe has mainly adopted American-based technologies. But Europe has specific needs, that are considered secondary in the United States.

Europe's technological advances have been slowed down by the added red tape made necessary to comply with complex rules. This explains why American technology has become a de facto standard, and conflicts with the goals of interoperability set as a political ideal.

Europe is forced to consider now to assert its power against the hostile attitude of the US administration. One of the directions that is currently envisioned is to create a strong technological infrastructure that could ensure that companies and governments can operate without the need to use American-grown technologies. There is a plan, developed by Thierry Breton (interviewed by France-Culture on January 22, 2026) to invest 850 Billion Euros (about 1T$) to create an independent technological infrastructure.

Europe, China and Russia

The big tech companies are up to a rude awakening. Losing the European markets would be a significant dent in their revenue stream. They can probably survive it. But as America loses its attraction as an international player, the losses of significant markets may become a serious problem.

Whether Europe will succeed in deploying ubiquitous technologies able to replace the American dominance in office-based software, cloud-based services, and artificial intelligence is less than certain. The political willingness to do so may be tempered by the enormous technical challenges to overcome.

China is deploying its own technologies, with an emphasis on social control. Chinese technologies are remarkable by their efficiency and centralization, but the objective of industrial dominance is at odds with the establishment of a society governed by democratic values.

Russia is not building technology, but has become a master in using propaganda to disrupt the political discourse and weaken democracy. Russia is able to exploit the weaknesses in the social media platforms to blur the differences between facts and falsehoods, and raise its political influence to a level they wouldn't be able to achieve without the flaws in technology.

What's coming next?

US predominance in technology has been possible because America has been attractive as a political project. It has been able to expand boundaries and explore new frontiers because there has been a willingness to provide benefits that directly impact the daily activities of every individual and organization on the planet, both on a professional and personal level.

What would help the European would be if US changes course and develops technologies that respond to the specific needs of the European market: multilingual and interoperable, built-in accountability and respect of individual privacy. In turn, these needs would also fit the American market: a multilingual society is consistent with America being traditionally a hospitable place for people coming from all over the world. When America sees immigration as an opportunity for development, rather than a danger, the American society benefits as a whole. The violent backlash against immigrants which is happening now has been so radical that there is a need to turn to the opposite direction, and make America a country that again welcomes immigrants.

A higher level of accountability and respect of individual freedoms, important in Europe, can also benefit the United States economy. The degradation of many services by replacing humans by quick-and-dirty cheap automated services has resulted in an overall degradation of services provided to customers, as well as a degradation of work conditions, where people lose their ability to take responsibility and satisfaction in their job. The degradation is now so ubiquitous that it has become a real problem. Therefore, the European need for increased accountability is also something that could benefit the American economy.