Listen to the oral transcription of the text (via an IA)
Europe will have to confront the United States head-on, while China can deflect and avoid a frontal approach.
On September 4, the European Commission fined Google nearly €3 billion. The White House immediately announced that it would take retaliatory measures against the EU if the sanction were upheld.
The GAFAM issue was avoided during this summer’s trade negotiations, but we knew the balance was unstable. Europe has a high deficit in services, particularly technology-related, with the US, but at the same time, it is dependent on them because Europeans are not capable of providing identical services. The balance is clearly in favor of the Americans, let’s not hide it.
Under these conditions, will the fine be nothing more than a flash in the pan that will not withstand pressure from Washington, or will Europe, by using its entire legal arsenal and with the political will of the Commission and heads of government, have the capacity to stand up to Donald Trump? The issue concerns the use of anti-coercion instruments, the rule of law, democracy, but also the importance of information. It is this set of points that is brought together in this European fight.
What is so shocking here is that Europe will have to be head-on in its confrontation with the United States to avoid losing its soul. This is a much more important issue than the level of customs duties. It is the very essence of Europe, of its independence, that is at stake.
Meanwhile, the Chinese are getting around the White House’s game and not falling for it. Donald Trump wanted to impose Nvidia’s H2O semiconductors as a condition for the development of Chinese AI. Beijing’s response was blunt: the Middle Kingdom’s engineers will do otherwise.
The idea, developed many years ago by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, is to indicate that by using the most advanced technology, outsiders trap themselves by playing the leader’s game. They can intervene more on less advanced technological objects but develop very powerful algorithmic tools alongside. In doing so, they use a sidetrack, thus exploring new fields. This is exactly what Deepseek did in the face of Open AI. Chinese authorities hope that Chinese AI researchers, who represent half of the researchers in the world, will help move forward in this direction, pulling the rug out from under the Americans.
The set of research structures established over a long period of time through Huawei and many other companies will enable this shift without being directly constrained by Washington.
Europe is caught off guard. It doesn’t really have a Plan B. By being united, it will be at stake for its political survival in the first division.