America can switch off AI. Europe must switch gears before it's too late

Post by joe_mamba » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 9:02 AM UTC

alephnerd wrote: post #14

scotty79 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically Europe needs to become best friends with China and buy all the solar panels and all the electronics they are willing to spare. But the ineffective incumbent European industries throw rocks into those gears. Even though EU consumers are delighted with what China has to offer. I think political landscape could use consumer focused political parties. Screw the business, screw the rent-seekers, rights-holders a…

> Basically Europe needs to become best friends with China... China has embargoed rare earth exports to the EU [0] as well as enforcing sanctions against the EU's domestic drone and UAV industry [1]. China is also training Russian soldiers on drone tactics to be used in Ukraine [2][3] as well as continuing to back Russia's position on Ukraine [4]. If Europe wishes to be "friends" with China, it means giving Russia pr…

Post by plastic-enjoyer » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 9:08 AM UTC

schmuhblaster wrote: post #18

As a European I have long given up on any meaningful change w.r.t AI. Imho the average European is much more risk averse than the average American or Chinese. That and a plethora of other factors that have been discussed over and over again, make it unlikely that we'll see things change within the next ten years or so. Only massive and immediate threats (e.g. he crisis in Ukraine) will make people and governments rec…

Post by RugnirViking » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 9:19 AM UTC

plastic-enjoyer wrote: post #33

schmuhblaster wrote: post #18

As a European I have long given up on any meaningful change w.r.t AI. Imho the average European is much more risk averse than the average American or Chinese. That and a plethora of other factors that have been discussed over and over again, make it unlikely that we'll see things change within the next ten years or so. Only massive and immediate threats (e.g. he crisis in Ukraine) will make people and governments rec…

I think this view stems mainly from the fact that we don’t have any big names like Anthropic or OpenAI, and that Europe is a bit slow off the mark. We do indeed have many promising tech start-ups, and plenty of talent, particularly in the field of AI. However, you don’t hear anything about many of these start-ups, as they often do not work on the flashy stuff. I would even go so far as to say that Europe is generally…

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 9:23 AM UTC

joe_mamba wrote: post #29

nephihaha wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a European, I see the word "change" used all the time as if it is a good thing. Change is good, bad or indifferent depending on circumstances. It is not automatically progress.

>It is not automatically progress. Irrelevant. The world changes for better and for worse, whether you want to or not, and you can only ignore it and piss against the wind so long before you get wet. Ignoring, resisting or opposing global change only works if you're THE global hegemon and can bully everyone else to operate by your rules. Europe is not, therefore it can't dictate terms for others so it can't keep resi…

Post by plastic-enjoyer » Wed, Jul 01, 2026, 9:40 AM UTC

joe_mamba wrote: post #32

starvar2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather have a world without "AI" then one with. As I see it, the negatives far outstrip the positives.

The thing is, reality doesn't care what you'd rather have, it simply happens with or without your consent. And burying your head in the sand doesn't change anything. The right attitude for change is to see how you can get to the top of it first, to make sure you get to control the new tech in way that are ethical and congruent with your values, otherwise your rival will get to it first, and weaponize it against you i…