Europe's cloud dependency is a political risk, not just a technical one

"However, these frameworks share a common vulnerability: they are built on contractual and regulatory mechanisms that cannot override statutory US law. Regardless of where data is stored, American cloud companies remain subject to US legal and political authority, including export controls, sanctions regimes, an"

Europe’s AI and cloud infrastructure remains structurally dependent on external providers. US hyperscalers AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform control about 70% of the European cloud market by early 2026. Europe also depends on external actors for AI chips, with US companies dominating chip design and Asian foundries such as TSMC and Samsung handling manufacturing. European domestic semiconductor output remains under 10% of global production. Initiatives like the AI Continent Plan and Invest AI aim to strengthen competitiveness and technological sovereignty. Europe’s AI sovereignty efforts also target data governance through the European strategy for data, GDPR, the Data Governance Act, and the Data Act. These frameworks rely on contractual and regulatory mechanisms that cannot override statutory US law, leaving American cloud providers subject to US legal and political authority, including export controls and sanctions regimes.

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