Social media has evolved from a platform for personal exchange into a central arena of public life, where digital footprints now serve as tools for state oversight. Governments worldwide increasingly treat posts, likes and messages as sources of intelligence. What begins as access to data can, depending on the system, remain a regulated investigative tool or transform into an instrument of control.
For decades, ICT distributors played a largely technical and operational role in Europe’s digital economy. They moved hardware and software efficiently through the market, provided credit and logistics and remained mostly invisible to end users. Their importance was measured in scale and reliability, not strategy. That role is now fundamentally changing.
The global AI race is often reduced to a single question: who is ahead? A better question is where power is built. AI strength emerges across three levels: macro (capital and scale), meso (models and institutions), and micro (startups and talent). Looking at the US, China and Europe through this lens reveals three very different strategies.
This is Finn the Duck, your ace reporter, live from a sunny terrace in Lisbon – sipping a black coffee (lactose-intolerant, you know) with my laptop balanced on my feathers.
When Peter Wennink stepped down as CEO of ASML in April 2024, he left behind a legacy that transcended the semiconductor industry. Under his stewardship, ASML not only became Europe’s most valuable technology company but also a pivotal player in the geopolitical tug-of-war between the United States and China.
Good evening, everyone! This is Finn the Duck, your fearless reporter, live from my trusty windmill desk. The blades are spinning fast today because a fresh tweet just dropped: a list of the world’s richest cities by GDP. New York tops it, Tokyo close behind — but look who’s shining in Europe: Paris at #4, London #5, Rhine-Ruhr
Europe has long invested in systems like DigiD in the Netherlands to help citizens prove who they are online. Yet recent developments show how fragile this trust can be when identity and authentication systems are managed from outside Europe. Now, a French initiative called Authentica offers a new approach — a technology designed to verify the origin of digital creations, from music and images to text, while keeping control firmly in European hands.
China rarely dominates Western headlines in the same way as Silicon Valley or Brussels, yet few countries shape the global future of artificial intelligence as quietly and consistently. While public debate in Europe and the United States often focuses on regulation, ethics and market competition, China has taken a different path. It treats AI not as a standalone sector, but as a strategic foundation for national power.
Good evening, folks! This is Finn the Duck, your fearless reporter, live from my windmill desk on this chilly December evening. The blades are turning slowly behind me, reminding us that 2025 is winding down — but AI? That’s only speeding up.
While much of the global AI debate is dominated by American and Chinese companies, a quieter but strategically important player has been building a distinctly European alternative. Aleph Alpha, founded in Germany in 2019, represents a different vision of artificial intelligence — one rooted in transparency, reliability and alignment with public values.
