European tech CEOs urge ‘Europe-first’ mentality to counter U.S. dominance after Trump victory
Thomas Plantenga, CEO of used fashion resale app Vinted, on center stage during Web Summit 2024 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Harry Murphy | Sportsfile for Web Summit Getty Images
LISBON, Portugal — Tech CEOs in Europe are urging region al countries to take bolder action to tackle Big Tech’s dominance and counter reliance on the U.S. for critical technologies like artificial intelligence after Donald Trump’s electoral win.
The Republican politician’s victory was a key topic among prominent tech bosses at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal. Many attendants said they’re unsure of what to expect from the U.S. president-elect, citing this unpredictability as a core challenge at present.
Andy Yen, CEO of Swiss VPN developer Proton, says Europe should echo American protectionism and adopt a more “Europe-first” approach to technology — in part to reverse the trend of the last two decades, during which much of the Western world’s most important technologies, from web browsing to smartphones, have become dominated by a handful of large U.S. tech firms.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, are services that encrypt data and mask a user’s IP address to hide browsing activity and bypass censorship.
“It’s time for Europe to step up,” Yen told CNBC on the sidelines of Web Summit. “It’s time to be bold. It’s time to be more aggressive. And the time is now, because we now have a leader in the U.S. that is ‘America-first,’ so I think our European leaders should be ‘Europe-first.'”
One key push for the past decade from the European Union has been to take legal action and introduce tough new regulations to tackle the dominance of large technology players, such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta.
As Trump prepares to come into power for a second mandate, concerns have now mounted that Europe might reel in its tough approach to tech giants out of fear of retaliation from the new administration.
US Big Tech playing ‘extremely unfairly’
Proton’s Yen, for one, urged the EU not to water down its attempts to rein in America’s tech giants.
“Europe has been thinking in a very globalist mindset. They’re thinking we need to be fair to everybody, we need to open our market to everybody, we need to play fair, because we believe in fairness,” he told CNBC.
“Well, guess what? The Americans and the Chinese didn’t get the memo. They have been playing extremely unfairly for the last 20 years. And now they have a president that is extremely ‘America-first.'”
Mitchell Baker, former CEO of American open internet non-profit Mozilla Foundation, said the EU’s DMA has led to meaningful changes for the Firefox browser, with activity increasing since Google implemented a “choice screen” on Android phones that enables users to select their search engine.
“The change in Firefox new users and market share on Android is noticeable,” Baker said. “That’s nice for us — but it’s also an indicator of how much power and centralized distribution that these companies have.”
She added, “This change in usage because of one choice screen isn’t the full picture. But it is an indicator of the kind of things that consumers can’t choose and that businesses can’t build successfully because of the way the tech industry is structured right now.”
Thomas Plantenga, CEO of Lithuania-headquartered used clothing resale app Vinted, urged Europe to take the “right choices” to ensure the continent can “fend for ourselves” and does not get “left behind.”
“If you look very realistically at what countries do, they try to take care of themselves and they try to form coalitions to be stronger themselves, and as a coalition be stronger,” Plantenga told CNBC in an interview. “We have a lot of very talented, well-educated people.”
“We need [to] ensure that we can take care of our own safety, that we can take care of our own energy, that we ensure to keep on investing in our education and innovation so that we can keep up with the rest [of the world],” he stressed. “If we don’t, then we’ll be left behind. In every collaboration, it’s always a trade. And if we don’t have much to trade, we become weaker.”
‘AI sovereignty’ now a key battleground
Another theme that attracted much chatter on the ground at Web Summit was the idea of “AI sovereignty” — which refers to countries and regions localizing critical computing infrastructure behind AI services, so that these systems become more reflective of regional languages, cultures and values.
With Microsoft becoming a key player in AI, concerns have surfaced that the maker of the Windows operating system and Office productivity tools suite has secured a dominant position when it comes to foundational AI tools.
The tech giant is a key backer behind ChatGPT maker OpenAI, whose technology it also heavily uses in its own products.
For some startups, Microsoft’s decision to embrace AI has resulted in harmful, anti-competitive effects.
Last year, Microsoft hiked the fees it charges search engines to use its Bing Search APIs, which allow developers access to the tech giant’s backend search infrastructure — in part because of higher costs attached to its AI-powered search features.
“They’re gradually reducing our revenue — we’re still relying on them — and that reduces our capacity to do things,” Christian Kroll, CEO of sustainability-focused search engine Ecosia, told CNBC. “Microsoft is a very fierce competitor.”
CNBC has reached out to Microsoft for comment.
Ecosia recently partnered with fellow search provider Qwant to build a European search index and reduce dependence on U.S. Big Tech to deliver web browsing results.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s AI Act, a landmark artificial intelligence law with global implications, introduces new transparency requirements and restrictions on companies developing and using AI.
The laws are likely to have a big impact on predominantly U.S. tech firms, since they’re the ones doing much of the development of — and investment in — AI.
With Trump set to come into power, it’s unclear what that could mean for the global AI regulatory landscape.
Shelley McKinley, chief legal officer of code repository platform GitHub, said she can’t predict what Trump will do in his second term — but that businesses are planning for a range of different scenarios in the meantime.
“We will learn in the next few months what President-elect Trump will say, and in January we will start seeing some of what President Trump does in this area,” McKinley said during a CNBC-moderated panel earlier this week.
“I do think it is important that we all, as society, as businesses, as people, continue to think about the different scenarios,” she added. “I think, as with any political change, as with any world change, we’re still all thinking about what are all of the scenarios we might operate.”
ChatGPT for Teachers
Courtesy of OpenAI
OpenAI on Wednesday announced ChatGPT for Teachers, a version of its artificial intelligence chatbot that is designed for K-12 educators and school districts.
Educators can use ChatGPT for Teachers to securely work with student information, get personalized teaching support and collaborate with colleagues within their district, OpenAI said. There are also administrative controls that district leaders can use to determine how ChatGPT for Teachers will work within their communities.
OpenAI said it is initially launching ChatGPT for Teachers with a cohort of districts that represent roughly 150,000 educators. ChatGPT for Teachers will be free to K-12 educators in the U.S. through June 2027, the company said.
“Our objective here is to make sure that teachers have access to AI tools as well as a teacher-focused experience so they can truly guide AI use,” Leah Belsky, vice president of education at OpenAI, told reporters during a briefing.
The company said student data will be protected and that anything shared within ChatGPT for Teachers will not be used to train its models.
OpenAI rocketed into the mainstream following the launch of its generic ChatGPT chatbot in 2022. It’s faced criticism from teachers and parents who argue that students can use the tool to cheat and avoid engaging in critical thinking.
ChatGPT for Teachers is not intended for students, but OpenAI said giving teachers hands-on experience with AI tools will help them understand and establish best practices in their classrooms.
“Every student today is growing up with AI, and teachers play a central role in helping them learn how to use these tools responsibly and effectively,” the company said in a blog post. “To support that work, educators need space to explore AI for themselves.”
In July, OpenAI released a product within ChatGPT called “study mode.” Study mode was built with college-age students in mind, and it aims to help them work through problems step-by-step before they arrive at an answer.
OpenAI said it built study mode as “a first step in a longer journey to improve learning in ChatGPT.”
WATCH: Investors believe OpenAI will become the largest hyperscaler: The Futurum Group CEO Daniel Newman
Block said Wednesday that it expects gross profit to increase in the mid-teens annually for the next three years, reaching about $15.8 billion in 2028.
At the payment company’s first investor day event since 2022, Block unveiled a three-year financial outlook. The announcements land as Wall Street has turned skeptical on Block’s prospects, pushing the stock down by more than 30% in 2025, while major indexes have notched solid gains.
Block shares were initially halted around the time of the announcement and then jumped 9% when trading resumed.
The fresh guidance also comes two weeks after Block reported quarterly results, missing revenue estimates for a sixth straight time. Block has been diversifying away from its point-of-sale business, which has become increasingly crowded, launching more services tied to Cash App and offering artificial intelligence tools to sellers.
Block said in its new outlook that adjusted operating income is projected to increase about 30% annually, topping $4.6 billion by 2028. Adjusted earnings per share will grow in the low 30% range, reaching $5.50 in three years.
Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja told CNBC ahead of the release that the company is entering a new phase of execution.
Block vs. Nasdaq this year
“Since 2022, our last investor day, we’re nearly double the size from a gross profit perspective,” Ahuja said, adding that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization “more than tripled.”
Block also introduced a new non-GAAP cash flow metric, designed to reflect the capital required to grow its lending products, which it expects to reach more than $4 billion, or 25% of gross profit, by 2028.
For 2026, Block expects gross profit to rise 17% to $11.98 billion, with adjusted operating income and EPS both increasing more than 30%, to $2.7 billion and $3.20, respectively.
Ahuja said Block has adopted a “rule of 40” investment framework. That typically refers to revenue growth rate plus profit margin exceeding 40. She said the company expects to reach that metric this year and has reorganized around a single roadmap with a shared technical infrastructure.
“That transformation has resulted in us moving faster, with more connected decisions across our ecosystem,” Ahuja said.
On Wednesday, Block also expanded its share repurchase program by $5 billion, adding to the $1.1 billion in remaining authorization as of Sept. 30. The prior buyback plan was for up to $4 billion in purchases.
Block CEO Jack Dorsey, who co-founded the company as Square in 2009, was in attendance at the investor event. Dorsey has largely been out of public view in recent years.
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