Europeans seek 'digital sovereignty' as US tech firms embrace Trump

AI Chatbot: Hello tech is here to take a lot more jobs and probably cause waves of layoff!

With the US election results in and Donald Trump set to return to the White House, Europe's tech industry is increasingly focusing on "digital sovereignty" - reducing dependence on American technology.

While US tech giants like Meta and Amazon see their stocks rise on expectations of favorable policies under Trump, European startups and policymakers are doubling down on building homegrown alternatives.

"Digital sovereignty has never been more important for Europe," said Christian Klein, CEO of German software giant SAP. "We need to strengthen our own digital capabilities."

The concerns follow Trump's "America First" approach and potential tariffs on European goods. EU officials worry that American tech dominance could leave Europe vulnerable to US political decisions.

In response, European ventures like Mistral AI and Germany's Aleph Alpha are accelerating development of AI models to compete with OpenAI and Google.

"This is our moment to establish European technology leadership," said Guillaume Vermorel, a French tech investor. "We can't rely solely on Silicon Valley anymore."

Many European businesses are also exploring open-source alternatives to reduce dependence on proprietary American software, particularly for critical infrastructure.