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 venture capital industry and deeptech startups, including robotics, spacetech and defence tech. She also writes Sifted's weekly VC newsletter Up Round. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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