Innovations & technologies

Europe reveals its ambitious tech blueprint to take on Silicon Valley and China

Europe has unveiled its blueprint for challenging Silicon Valley's and China's dominance in artificial intelligence and technology.

The European Commission's wide-ranging policy proposals, published Wednesday, set out ideas around access to data, the regulation of artificial intelligence and facial-recognition technologies, and support for the growth of European tech.

The proposals are from Margrethe Vestager, Thierry Breton, and Ursula von der Leyen, all senior members of the commission.

In an op-ed article published on Wednesday, von der Leyen explained the proposals' purpose.

...One proposal centers on creating a "single market" to let data about everything from health to finance to energy "flow freely within the European Union" by 2030.

In a public communique, the commission outlined its concerns about the "accumulation of vast amounts of data by Big Tech companies" — likely the US giants Facebook, Amazon, and Google — and hinted at further regulation to curb their power.

The goal of all this is to boost data-sharing among member states, businesses, and public authorities.