Works in Progress editor Simon Grimm said Europe has lagged behind the United States for the past 30 years, and the gap could widen sharply as artificial intelligence develops. According to ChainCatcher, he said Europe needs growth as AI capabilities improve, but it is not on the right track and its lagging position may worsen further.

Grimm said the world is undergoing one of the most expensive infrastructure buildouts in history, yet Europe has seen almost no major data center projects materialize. He said AI companies are urgently looking for places to build data centers, but few projects are moving forward in Europe. He added that the problem is largely on the supply side, with relatively weaker conditions in Europe making such construction difficult.