Your phone is Europe's biggest digital sovereignty problem: fewer than a million of the EU's 350 to 400 million smartphones are European-made. A five-part deep dive on the dependency and what it would take to change it. With a free source appendix and a PDF edition.
By Christian Triantafillou Schade
A 14-organisation consortium completed the Horizon Europe-funded OpenWebSearch.EU project after 42 months, delivering a federated European Open Web Index pilot with 39 billion URLs crawled across 185 languages. The pilot demonstrates technical, economic and sovereignty benefits for Europe’s digital autonomy and trustworthy AI, according to the
(#source_openwebsearch.eu)
A survey of 1,500 businesses in the UK, France and Germany found 74% fear a US government-imposed cloud 'kill switch' could disrupt operations. More than half said they could not operate for more than a day without cloud services, highlighting reliance on a small number of
(#source_www.itpro.com)
By Christian Triantafillou Schade
By Christian Triantafillou Schade
By Christian Triantafillou Schade
By Christian Triantafillou Schade
Hungary’s Science and Technology Minister Zoltán Tanács said Budapest has met EU technical criteria to rejoin the €95 billion Horizon Europe research programme. The Commission has yet to receive formal notification, but Tanács expects funds to be unlocked by year-end. The move follows governance reforms to address conflict-
(#source_Politico)
Nvidia confirms its $12.93bn acquisition of open-source AI hub Hugging Face, a repository hosting three million models and used by 18 million developers. The deal, expected to close in early 2027, risks concentrating critical open-source AI infrastructure under a single non-European entity, raising concerns for Europe&
(#source_Tech.eu)
The Cyprus Computer Society submitted 33 recommendations to strengthen Cyprus’ National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2032, urging clearer accountability and measurable outcomes. The proposals focus on sustainable funding, project implementation and governance structures, including a single national AI implementation plan. The organisation also calls for dedicated frameworks for generative AI and
(#source_Cyprus-Mail)
The European Commission proposes stricter customs reforms and penalties to reduce reliance on non-EU digital platforms. The measures aim to strengthen Europe's digital sovereignty by enforcing stricter regulatory oversight on foreign technology providers. The proposal follows concerns over strategic vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. (BRUSSELS TIMES) EU targets
(#source_Brussels-Times)
The European Commission’s Chips Act 2.0 proposal, tabled in June 2026, abandons unrealistic market-share targets and instead targets EU strengths in semiconductor equipment, power electronics, automotive chips and advanced packaging. The European Court of Auditors estimated the EU’s likely global semiconductor share at 11.7% by
(#source_eeNews-Europe)
The US Treasury’s OFAC designated the Italian digital infrastructure provider Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 26 August 2026. The collective, which hosts email, XMPP and blog services for activists, reports its autistici.org domain became unreachable on 28 August, citing DNS-level interference. A/I
(#source_www.inventati.org)
Russia’s new AI law, effective 1 September 2026, defines ‘sovereign’ and ‘national’ AI models that must store data in Russia and comply with state-defined values. The law aims to export this model abroad despite Russia’s reliance on foreign components and lagging AI capabilities, Atlantic Council reports. (ATLANTICCOUNCIL)
(#source_Atlantic-Council)
Swiss firm xorlab secures €5 million in Series A+ funding to expand its AI-driven email security platform across Europe, targeting DACH, Benelux and Nordic markets. The round was led by Spicehaus Partners, with existing investors also participating. xorlab’s platform processes data in European data centres to support DORA,
(#source_EU-Startups)
Flower Labs, a Cambridge University spinout, launches Endeavor 1.0, a locally deployable AI model it claims matches OpenAI and Anthropic's leading models. The startup positions the open-source-based model as a sovereign alternative for European organisations seeking to reduce reliance on US providers. Flower Labs, founded
(#source_Tech.eu)
U.S. states are consolidating fragmented digital identity systems into enterprise platforms to combat AI-driven fraud, including synthetic identities and deepfakes. A NASCIO survey of 47 states and territories finds 51% using centralized approaches, with 70% citing funding shortages as a key obstacle. States increasingly treat identity as foundational
(#source_Biometric-Update)
Nvidia expands its IP licensing strategy by offering NVLink Fusion and NVHBM technologies to competitors like MediaTek, Amazon, and AMD, embedding dependence on U.S. semiconductor IP. MediaTek integrates NVLink Fusion into its datacenter XPU designs in exchange for a $3.5 billion convertible bond investment, while Amazon adopts NVHBM
(#source_The-Register)
The European Commission has designated ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine and Reddit and Roblox as Very Large Online Platforms under the Digital Services Act. The move subjects the U.S.-based services to direct EU supervision, requiring them to assess and mitigate systemic risks, including effects on
(#source_Politico)
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking awards a contract to Bull for deploying an AI-optimised supercomputer in Kajaani, Finland. The system will power the LUMI AI Factory, advancing Europe’s digital sovereignty in high-performance computing. (EUROHPC JU) EuroHPC JU Signs Contract to Deploy the LUMI-AI SupercomputerThe EuroHPC Joint Undertaking
(#source_EuroHPC-JU)
Germany’s Sovereign Tech Agency has allocated €508,640 to Flatpak for two years of development focused on security, sandboxing and networking. The investment aims to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty through open-source software infrastructure. (XDA-DEVELOPERS) Germany's investment in Flatpak to advance European digital sovereignty through
(#source_www.xda-developers.com)
