I have the feeling that for too many years the EU has been living the famous and unfortunate story of the frog in boiling water, which does not realize that it has to make a definitive and radical leap to place itself in a more advantageous position in the new global economic scenario. I also have the feeling that, from European jubilation and over-regulation, the implementation of investments that have to guarantee the famous strategic autonomy pointed out by Draghi is advancing at too slow a pace.
However, President Von der Leyen says that Europe is not late to Artificial Intelligence and announces 200,000 million euros for its own AI, while Macron is proud of Mistral AI, the French artificial intelligence startup that owns Le Chat, a generative AI that tries to compete with ChatGPT and DeepSeek.
Europe wants to compete in AI by defending a regulatory model that protects our values, while AI companies demand deregulation, since they cannot compete on equal terms. As always, the conflict of interest is served, and European culture is very reluctant to deregulate.
Within this European context, Barcelona is in a privileged position to become a benchmark in artificial intelligence. The city has been selected to host one of the seven AI factories promoted by the European Union, a project led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), which will have an investment of more than 174 million euros from the European Commission, the central government and the Generalitat. This initiative will democratize access to supercomputing, making it easier for companies, SMEs and startups to develop AI projects without unattainable costs.
The BSC has also recently presented the first quantum computer in Spain with 100% European technology, financed by Quantum Spain. This advance has the potential to solve complex problems in strategic sectors such as traffic, smart grids and drug development, consolidating Barcelona as an epicenter of technological innovation.
Europe must learn to unlearn, to untie the knot of regulationBut for Europe to really compete in this sector, it is necessary tolearn to untie the knot of regulation without betraying European values to try to be on equal termswith other powers such as the United States or China. This means not only simplifying regulations, but also activating agile public-private investment systems.
Despite these challenges, Barcelona has a unique opportunity to lead the development of AI in Europe. With strategic investments and a commitment to public-private collaboration, the city can consolidate itself as a benchmark in technological innovation. But for this future to become a reality, Europe must learn to unlearn: to untie the knot of regulation to relearn how to compete in an increasingly demanding global market.