Escaping the trap of US tech dependence • Hacker News Board

Re: Escaping the trap of US tech dependence

#111

Post by microtonal » Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

sillyfluke wrote: post #106

microtonal wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or Mistral, it is French and has been great for my day to day queries (haven't tried for programming yet).

Mistral has made a pivot from small model focus to large model focus by getting into bed with Microsoft. I don't know how sticky their deals are but, taking a quick look at recent Microsoft press releases, Mistral still seems to be prioritizing releases on Azure.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. They are currently the most (if only) serious non-US Western player.

Re: Escaping the trap of US tech dependence

#112

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC

steve1977 wrote: post #59

I think many people don't realize how big this dependence is. You're running Linux? Oh fine... on which hard- and firmware? Intel? AMD? Apple Silicon? Qualcomm? All US. You're using the Internet? Via Cisco routers? Europe and other regions would have to put in huge efforts to really gain independence.

[deleted]

Re: Escaping the trap of US tech dependence

#113

Post by tzs » Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 11:28 PM UTC

cudgy wrote: post #98

tzs wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ford actually makes vehicles in Europe. Does BYD? Not yet. They are in the process of opening a factory in Hungary. The production line equipment arrived in December, with trial production scheduled for Q1 2026, and mass production in Q2, with capacity ramping up over two years. They are also doing a factory in Turkey. Their plan is for all of the EVs they sell in Europe to be made in the EU by 2028. They aren't th…

Factory? Or assembly plant?

Generally in the car industry those terms are interchangeable. I'd guess what you are asking is where do the parts come from?

For BYD the batteries and drive units will come from BYD factories in China. The steel is going to come from Europe and they are working on getting more of the non-EV specific stuff made in Europe.

They are in negotiations to build a battery plant in Europe, saying that this is crucial to scaling up.

Re: Escaping the trap of US tech dependence

#114

Post by am3141 » Mon, Jan 26, 2026, 11:45 PM UTC

Sytten wrote: post #50

If we want to meaningfully reduce our dependency we "just" need more capital. All founders in Canada will tell you that Canadian VC suck: they are risk averse, their due diligence is painful and their terms are made so they can't lose. It is not rare in Canada for ex-founders of failed startups to be hundred of thousands of dollars in debt. That's why we are always advised to go seek funding in the US. In Canada we l…

This is 100% true.