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ASML does not manufacture chips. It manufactures the machines required to produce them. As artificial intelligence and semiconductor demand continue to grow, the company increasingly resembles something more than a technology supplier: a form of strategic infrastructure.
For decades, ASML was viewed primarily as a technology company. Today, it increasingly occupies a position that extends beyond markets and products. In this series, Altair Media explores how ASML became one of the world’s most strategically important enterprises—and what that may mean for the future of Europe and the global technology economy.
What if Elon Musk decided to buy ASML? The question may sound implausible, but it reveals a deeper reality. As technology becomes increasingly strategic, some companies may have evolved beyond ordinary market logic and into critical infrastructure.
When seven European technology leaders issued a joint call for action, much of the discussion focused on regulation. Yet the significance of the coalition may lie elsewhere. By bringing together companies from semiconductors, telecommunications, industrial systems, software, artificial intelligence and aerospace, the statement reveals a broader shift in European thinking: from individual sectors toward interconnected technology ecosystems.
Europe’s technological future may depend less on national champions and more on networks of specialised ecosystems. From semiconductors and cloud infrastructure to energy systems and research clusters, competitiveness increasingly emerges from the connections between Europe’s most important capabilities.
Artificial intelligence may be built with software, but it runs on electricity. As Europe expands its ambitions in AI, cloud computing and technological sovereignty, energy infrastructure is emerging as one of the most critical foundations of future competitiveness and resilience.
Cloud computing is increasingly becoming more than a commercial service. As Europe expands its ambitions in artificial intelligence and technological sovereignty, cloud infrastructure is emerging as a critical foundation for economic resilience, digital competitiveness and strategic autonomy.
The future of Europe’s semiconductor strategy may depend less on producing everything at home and more on controlling critical technologies. Chips Act 2.0 signals a shift towards technological indispensability, infrastructure resilience and long-term strategic competitiveness.
For years, Europe spoke about digital sovereignty as a long-term ambition. With the launch of the Tech Sovereignty Package and Chips Act 2.0, that ambition is beginning to take institutional form. This series explores how semiconductors, cloud infrastructure, AI and energy are becoming part of a broader European strategy to reduce critical dependencies and strengthen technological resilience.
Europe’s challenge is no longer simply competing with foreign companies. It is increasingly competing with state-backed industrial ecosystems. As strategic industries shift from products to infrastructure, Europe faces difficult questions about resilience, sovereignty and the future of open markets.
