The administration of US President Donald Trump, amid the ongoing trade war, may deprive Europe of the internet because the EU is almost entirely dependent on US cloud services. This is reported by the European publication Politico, citing its experts.
“The idea that Trump could order the shutdown of the Internet or do something else that would seriously harm the economic interests of the EU is no longer as far-fetched as it might have seemed six months ago,“ said in a comment for the newspaper Zach Myers, head of the Center for European Regulation.
In turn, the head of the Austrian cloud service provider Anexia, Alexander Windbichler, told Politico that he and other IT companies should have paid attention to the “unhealthy dependence“ on American services earlier. According to him, the EU cloud industry has for too long avoided lobbying for its interests, focusing on technological competitiveness.
Previously, Politico wrote that the EU will focus on developing cooperation with the United States in the digital sphere, recognizing the superiority of foreign technologies in such critical areas as cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI) and microchips.
American cloud services companies have captured more than two-thirds of the European market. The United States is significantly ahead of the EU in the development of AI. At the same time, Europe's share of the global microprocessor market has fallen to about 10%.