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Analysis

February 16, 2026

Are world models Europe’s chance to win in AI?

Europe has lagged big US language model developers, but some believe it has a chance to get ahead with world models


Yann LeCun at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025. Credit: Isabelle Harsin/SIPA/MEAE

Late last year AI guru Yann LeCun, at the time Meta’s chief AI scientist, announced he was leaving the company after over a decade in the US to launch his own startup with a new approach to building AI models — and in a move that sparked heaps of enthusiasm, he decided to do so in Paris. 

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Daphné Leprince-Ringuet

Daphné Leprince-Ringuet is a senior reporter for Sifted, based in Paris. She covers French tech and writes Sifted's AI and Deeptech newsletter . You can find her on X and LinkedIn

Anne Sraders

Anne Sraders is a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covers the VC industry and deeptech startups. She also writes Sifted's weekly VC newsletter Up Round. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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