Deindustrialization of Europe: Amazon's offensive in artificial intelligence is a warning shot

“With Amazon, the next American company is positioning itself in the artificial intelligence business. If Europe does not want to be left behind again, it must change course.

Next please! After Microsoft, Google and, to a lesser extent, Meta, Amazon has now entered the race for generative artificial intelligence (AI).

This is a warning shot for the European efforts not to be left behind by the Americans in the new technology. With its new offer, Amazon is primarily concentrating on industrial applications - and thus on the area in which European AI companies are most likely to see opportunities. The promising Heidelberg start-up Aleph Alpha also focuses on industrial customers.

There is a great danger that the big tech companies Amazon, Microsoft and Google will also grab the potential billion dollar market with artificial intelligence after the cloud computing business. It is true that Microsoft started with consumer-oriented applications via Open AI and Google. But they are also aware that the more lucrative business beckons from other companies.

Microsoft in particular already offers selected companies access to the GPT models. A certain path dependency also helps the big players. Their dominance in the cloud business is the ideal sales channel for artificial intelligence applications.

This development should be an opportunity for the EU to reconsider its planned AI regulation. There is no doubt that well-designed regulation is needed to contain the undeniable risks of the technology.

But the step taken by the EU Parliament to classify generative AI as a risk application, regardless of the area of application, makes it unnecessarily difficult for European providers. The classification goes hand in hand with comprehensive reporting and control obligations, which should cement the lead of the large American corporations. It is not a problem for them to detach an entire department of lawyers in order to meet the regulatory requirements - for young companies it is.

But all hope is not lost yet. The race has only just begun. There are also promising approaches in Germany. However, so that they are not only successful in special niches, the right political foundations must now be laid.”