This is the conversation taking over Brussels – the one that consumes my every coffee, every dinner, every meeting: what is Europe to do about its dependence on American AI and tech?

You're probably reading this on an American device, through an American browser, on an American platform. There are more tech lobbyists in Brussels than there are elected officials in the European Parliament. And our elected officials know there is a problem. MEPs voted overwhelmingly – 471 to 68 – to break free of US dependence. And yet there's no consensus on what that future should actually look like. What should Europe build in its place?

To make sense of it, Samuel sits down with Max von Thun, Director of the Open Markets Institute Europe and one of the sharpest voices in Brussels on this moment. They get into the Europe 2031 report, why Max calls today's tech billionaires "plutocrats," where von der Leyen is showing teeth and where she's bowing to American interest, and the three competing visions for Europe's tech future.

Comments, concerns or suggestions: samuel.dempsey@europeancorrespondent.com

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