Lately Europe has been all in on AI. According to Sifted data, there were 293 VC fundraises by Europe’s “AI native” startups — those developing generative AI applications, AI agents and specialised AI hardware — in the past 12 months.
EU officials are also outlining plans in February to invest €200bn in AI projects, including new data centres, across the 27-country bloc.
However, there are still worries Europe is lagging behind in the global AI race. Last month, dozens of Europe’s leading startups and investors called on the EU to pause the rollout of the AI Act, saying it “puts a lot of pressure on startups” which may not have the resources needed to comply with the rules.
To debate and discuss the opportunities — and challenges — AI is bringing to Europe, Sifted’s senior reporter Daphné Leprince-Ringuet sat down with CEOs, investors and founders for our new podcast mini series, Europe’s AI Opportunity.
The episodes are:
- Episode one: Europe and AI
- Episode two: Building AI startups for the enterprise era
- Episode three: The next few years
Episode one: Europe and AI
The first episode of the series kicks off with the unpacking of Europe’s position in the AI race, exploring ambitions, gaps and what role infrastructure plays when it comes to building the next generation of AI leaders.
Daphné interviews Roman Chernin, cofounder and chief business officer at AI cloud company Nebius, Thomas Wolf, cofounder and chief science officer at AI startup Hugging Face, and Jonas Andrulis, founder and CEO of AI startup Aleph Alpha.
Listen if you’re wondering:
- What are the most critical infrastructure decisions AI startups have to make early on and how do they shape the trajectory of the company?
- Why does this AI infrastructure need to be in Europe to enable the development of sovereign AI in the region?
- What role should public infrastructure or compute resources play in supporting AI startups and research — and what’s still missing?
- How do national strategies and funding compare to what’s going on abroad, and are they enough?
Episode two: Building AI startups for the enterprise era
Episode two was recorded live at VivaTech, France’s flagship tech event where startups, corporates and industrial players come together in Paris.
The episode explores how European enterprises are adopting AI and what this means for the AI startups they are partnering with – plus, on the flip side, how some enterprises seemingly aren’t open to external collaboration in this field.
Daphné is joined by Claire Nouet, cofounder and chief operating officer at AI startup Pathway, Olivier Gomez, cofounder and CEO of AI company IAC.AI, and Anubhav Maheshwari, head of venture partnerships at Nebius.
Listen if you want to know:
- What distinguishes AI startups that successfully scale into enterprise-grade players?
- What can be done to incentivise corporates to work with AI startups?
- What are the differences in mentality towards working with AI startups from European versus US enterprises?
- Why are European enterprises lagging when it comes to AI startup partnerships?
Episode three: The next few years
The final episode looks at what the AI opportunity looks like for Europe in the next few years. In a fiercely competitive race to become the leading player in AI, how can European AI founders differentiate themselves in the AI race — and have a chance at colossal acquisitions like those in the US?
Daphné interviews Tom Blackwell, chief communications officer at Nebius, Albane Dersy, cofounder and COO of software startup Inbolt, Steffen Tjerild, cofounder of AI startup Synthesia, and Philippe Botteri, partner at global investor Accel.
Listen if you’re wondering:
- What is differentiating European startups from their US and Chinese counterparts?
- How can European startups stay attractive to European talent, especially in the face of growing competition from US big tech players?
- What are the exit options for AI startups in Europe today?
- What should Europe be focusing on to help its AI startups scale?
