Podcast

November 6, 2025

Can Europe build AI champions?

Funding for European AI-native companies has nearly doubled to €8.9bn this year

This week, Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is joined by head of research Jonathan Sinclair and senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz to unpack the state of AI in Europe.

Funding for European AI-native companies has nearly doubled to €8.9bn this year, and acquisitions hit a record high of 18 last month — all while valuations continue to climb. But do the numbers tell the full story?

The trio digs into insights from Sifted’s inaugural AI ranking, alongside recent reporting, to explore questions like: Should France still be considered Europe’s AI hub? Why do 95% of GenAI pilots fail at big corporations? And when is the AI bubble going to burst?

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Maya Dharampal-Hornby

Maya Dharampal-Hornby is Sifted's editorial assistant and producer of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast .

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