Authored by Paul Steidler via RealClearMarkets.com,
The European Commission, the governing body of the European Union, announced strategies last week to boost AI usage and investment through an extraordinarily deceitful press release.
The lead paragraph trumpeted the strategies are “to ensure Europe stays ahead, driving adoption in key industries and putting Europe at the forefront of AI-driven science.”
By any basic, reasonable measure Europe is far behind the United States and much of the rest of the world when it comes to AI adoption as well as research and development.
The EU itself recently reported that only 14 percent of all businesses used AI in 2024. That is less than one quarter of the number of small businesses using AI in the United States, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce study released August 18.
The Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Index Report for 2025 documented that in 2024 there were 1,143 new funded AI companies in the United States. In Europe, there were 447.
The Stanford study also found that 6,956 such new companies were funded from 2013-24. In Europe, it was much smaller. European nations accounted for only four of the top 15 countries for such new funding during the 2013-24 period.
The four EU countries are France (468 companies), Germany (394), Spain (117), and Netherlands (116). Each was beaten by tiny Israel, with 492 companies, and Canada with 481.
The European Commission also announced it was investing €1 billion ($1.17 billion) to “harness AI’s transformative potential” across 11 major business sectors.
By contrast, the Stanford report found Europe had $19.4 billion in private AI investment in 2024 compared with $109.1 billion for the U.S.
In the same news release, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said:
“I want the future of AI to be made in Europe…
We will drive this ‘AI first’ mindset across all our key sectors, from robotics to healthcare, energy and automotive.”
President von der Leyen’s strategy is divorced from competitive reality.
It is also a marked shift in tone and approach from a major address Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank President, gave to the EU in September 2024, warning of how far the EU was behind technologically and the need for fundamental reforms to turn that around.
This followed the release of a much-anticipated report.
It is time for the EU to get beyond misleading press releases and for it to welcome U.S. tech companies to unleash AI technology, including the construction of state-of-the-art data centers.
Through this and market reforms, Europe and its people can have the growth and opportunities that AI provides.
European businesses also do not need to be told by government about the importance of adopting AI.
Their competitive instincts, as with other businesses worldwide, will lead them to adopt it.
Fortunately, EU officials were asked highly skeptical questions at a news conference following the announcement.
Earlier, on September 16, 2025, Mario Draghi was critical of the European Commission for its “complacency” in pursuing the substantial reforms he urged more than a year ago.
The longer the EU plays regulatory gimmicks with AI and issues deceitful statements, the harder it will be to bring about economic growth and a better quality of life for its people. The October announcement shows it has a long way to go.
