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Photonics underpins the digital systems that power modern societies, from fibre-optic networks to advanced semiconductors. As China develops its own EUV prototype and technology ecosystems fragment, control over light is emerging as a key geopolitical asset. Europe’s current leadership is real — but not guaranteed.
Photonics is not a buzzword. It is the technology that carries the internet across oceans, enables chips to be etched at atomic scale and forms the foundation of future quantum systems. From fibre-optic communications to advanced manufacturing, photonics has become a critical enabler of modern societies. By 2030, the global photonics market is expected to exceed one trillion dollars. Yet at the heart of this rapidly expanding field lies a strategic chokepoint: extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
Whoever wants to understand artificial intelligence in Europe must first understand the cloud. And whoever understands the cloud will see why Europe’s focus on rules, governance and strategic positioning is not a brake on innovation, but a form of power.
Artificial intelligence is often discussed at the level of cloud infrastructure, foundation models and geopolitics. Yet its most immediate societal impact may unfold much closer to home. As AI increasingly becomes embedded in consumer products — from smart appliances to home automation systems — European retailers find themselves at the frontline of the next phase of AI adoption. MediaMarktSaturn Group, Europe’s largest consumer electronics retailer, offers a revealing lens into how this transition may unfold.
Artificial intelligence is often discussed as a single phenomenon, but its complexity resists one-dimensional explanations. AI is not only a technology, nor merely a market, nor just a political issue. It operates simultaneously at three interconnected scales: the macro level of geopolitics and power, the meso level of infrastructure and industrial capacity and the micro level where citizens, companies and institutions encounter AI in daily life.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a question of if, but of how it will shape the global order. By 2030, AI will underpin economic growth, national security and everyday life. Yet the future is not predetermined. The trajectory of AI depends on political choices, market dynamics and societal values that are unfolding today. Three plausible scenarios illustrate how different paths could lead to very different AI worlds.
Artificial intelligence is usually discussed in extremes. Policymakers focus on the macro level, debating global power, competition between the United States, China and Europe, and the broader strategic consequences of AI. At the other end, the public and businesses experience AI at the micro level, through products, automation and daily decision-making. But the meso layer — the physical and organizational infrastructure that makes AI possible — is often invisible in the conversation. And yet, it is precisely this middle layer that explains why AI debates frequently stall.
For decades, ICT distributors shaped Europe’s digital economy from the background. Today, as AI, cloud computing and regulation converge, they are stepping into a new role: not as vendors or platforms, but as strategic intermediaries that quietly determine how technology, governance and society connect.
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.
Nokia is reinventing itself — not by building AI models, but by creating the intelligent networks they depend on. From mobile phones to AI-driven infrastructure, its transformation reflects a broader European question: who controls the foundations of the digital future?
