Google Researcher Claims Europe Faces Total AI Dependence on US by 2031

What was said

"If you don't really have a seat at the table, it's very hard to regulate this technology. And now we just don't. And I think we can't just keep regulating because at some point we will no longer have access to this technology. If the European regulators make it too difficult to serve the European market, the AI companies might simply just not bother at all, or maybe make a token effort."

Michiel Bakker of Google DeepMind argued that Europe's regulatory approach without domestic AI champions creates a paradoxical trap: the continent lacks leverage to enforce rules on American companies that could simply exit the market since European revenue represents only a fraction of their compute allocation. He warned that unlike nuclear deterrence, AI represents economic power that the US may not share, leaving Europe vulnerable to technological and economic subordination.