Margrethe Vestager calls for balanced EU AI funding model to close compute gap with US and China

Europe controls roughly 5% of the world’s AI data center capacity. The US holds about 75%. China sits at 15%. If those numbers feel lopsided, that’s because they are, and a new strategy report co-authored by Margrethe Vestager wants to do something about it before the gap becomes permanent. The former European Commission Executive Vice-President helped produce a document called “A Transformative AI Strategy for Europe,” released on September 14, which lays out an ambitious blueprint: €100 billion in public investment paired with a target of €1.5 trillion in private capital, all aimed at tripling Europe’s compute share to 15% by 2030. The funding gap Europe can’t ignore The numbers illustrate why urgency matters. Private AI investment in 2024 hit $109 billion in the US. In Europe, that figure was $19.42 billion. That’s not a rounding error. It’s a structural disadvantage that compounds over time as compute infrastructure and talent cluster around where the money flows. Vestager has framed the stakes in sovereignty terms, arguing that Europe cannot afford to become what she described as a playground for foreign powers. The proposed €100 billion in public spending would focus on expan...