Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai urges Europe to build its own open-source AI

Alibaba Group chairman Joe Tsai has some advice for Europe: stop renting your AI future from someone else. Speaking at the Wave by Vento tech conference in Turin, Italy, on October 7, 2026, Tsai argued that open-source artificial intelligence is the continent’s best path to independence from American and Chinese technology. He also said Europe should build its own computing infrastructure, on its own soil, to make that happen. What Tsai actually said Tsai’s core argument was about risk. In his framing, depending on foreign technology, specifically from the US and China, leaves Europe exposed. His proposed fix was not to pick a side. He said open-source initiatives could give Europe a fair route to self-sufficiency. He called on Europe to expand its data center capacity for AI on European soil. Owning the model means little if the computers running it sit under another jurisdiction. Tsai also made a pointed claim about talent. He asserted that between 20% and 30% of employees at leading US AI labs are European, describing this European research talent as underutilized at home. He paired that with another asset he said Europe is sitting on: substantial industrial data. Europe’s facto...