Digital Sovereignty in Europe Rests on Antitrust Battles Against US Tech

The European Union has a new weapon in its bid for digital sovereignty: antitrust enforcement.

The 27-country bloc is seeking to gain greater control over many of its digital services, including those related to artificial intelligence, cloud computing and social media, that are currently dominated by American tech giants.

Amid a generational breakdown in relations between Washington and Brussels, EU leaders now view these dependencies — similar to the bloc’s reliance on American military hardware and support — as a potential weak point in the bloc’s position on the global stage.

A growing wariness of Silicon Valley, much of which has leant into current United States foreign policy that is increasingly antagonistic toward long-time allies, has been compounded by Europe’s eagerness to support local firms to take advantage of the AI revolution and jumpstart the bloc’s sluggish economy.