By Sascha Pallenberg – 7 minute read
Can we build computers, smartphones and tablets without being dependent on the USA? Today I’m weaving the tapestry of a big vision: our own chips, own software and own platforms – made in Europe. From European SoC design, via Linux, to browsers like Vivaldi and AI solutions from Cologne or Paris. A utopia? Maybe. But one that can become reality, if Europe finally thinks boldly – and takes action.
This text was translated from the German original, that you can find here:
https://www.metacheles.de/eu-tech-statt-silicon-valley-der-volkscomputer-fur-europa/
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Big Techs invisible chains
Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta – they’re in charge of what we see, what we use and what we think. You’re part of their infrastructure, even if you believe yourself to be free. Your smartphone? Probably Qualcomm or Apple Silicon. Your laptop? Intel, AMD or Nvidia. Even if the chips are produced in Taiwan, the design and construction is from the USA.
That means: our entire digital world is based on architecture that doesn’t belong to us. We are digital lodgers – not home owners. And this very fact is a problem!
One could of course look towards China. Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO… they know hardware and then some. But the question is: Do you really want to put your digital future into hands that promise even less freedom than the Californian computer dragons. No. We need our own, European alternative – technologically strong, politically sovereign and based on ethical values that we share.
Why not Europe?
We have the talent. We have the experience. We even have the building blocks. Infineon, ASML, Bosch, SAP, Deepl, Spotify – each one of these companies is a piece of the jigsaw to create an independent digital ecosystem. What’s missing is the will to put these pieces together.
With 200 billion Euro, which is what the EU has put aside to kickstart the AI industry, we could build our own ecosystem. Not (only) manufacturing, but design and architecture. We could create a European version of the Apple silicon – a SOC, developed in Europe and manufactured in Taiwan. At least to begin with, because even if TSMC is coming to Germany, they will rather be producing classical chips for the manufacturing industry in general and the automotive industry in particular.
Hardware first, software next
We need a full concept – hardware and software from one mould. Design made in Europe, manufacturing (initially) in Taiwan.
An operating system, that’s not controlled from the USA, but stays compatible, open, secure and fast. Why not a Linux-distribution with a modern intuitive UI? Why not a mix of the clarity of MacOS, the openness of Android and the speed of… well, let’s say Arch Linux?
SUSE could play the role in this that Apple had in the 2000’s: Platform builder and enabler. And why couldn’t we put together a team of 2 000 clever minds, that realises this vision – from design to distribution?
The new Europe-OS – made for humans, not for shareholders
A European OS must not become a new data trap, that measures engagement, sells likes and locks in its users in order to exploit them. It must do the opposite: create a digital environment that unites, rather than divides.
We’re not building algorithms that stoke hatred – we’re building platforms that enable dialogue. We need social media that is social. Messengers that are secure. Video- and photo platforms that belong to us, not to investors.
I’m sorry… you can tell that I’m fairly passionate and that I’m banging on a big drum, but I’m actually quite realistic and I’m only asking for… yes, what was until now impossible: I’m only asking for Europe’s moon shot.
Laying the foundations in education
We’re loosing if we put American tools in the hands of our children. Yes, I too have sat in front of computers with DOS, Windows 3.11 and battled with Multiplan. But it was actually on computers from Siemens-Nixdorf.
But imagine if schools in Europe are using our own systems: tablets with EU-OS, our own messengers, our own cloud services, PeerTube instead of YouTube, Mastodon instead of X.
Children will grow up with this, that digital sovereignty is the norm, not the exception!
This is how you change systems. Not with meetings in Brussels, but with education that teaches sovereignty. I’m looking at this in perspective. 10, 20 years into the furture. Imagine the results! And yes, I reveal an attidtude between arrogance and naivete: how can you think that there will still be such things as OS:es for pixel pushers and social media platforms 20 years from now?
I have no idea, but 40 years ago we didn’t know either, that we would get platforms forced onto us that would sow division in our societies like there’s no tomorrow!
Realistic? Absolutely. Only uncomfortable.
All we need for this already exists. Motherboards, memory, displays, manufacturing lines. Taiwan is delivering this. Germany can design it. France, the Netherlands, Scandinavia – they contribute with research, design and software excellence. We only have to stop talking ourselves down.
Once more… my presumptuous and wild ideas here are not commensurate to this task of a century. But we have to – somehow, somewhere, sometime – get started.
It wouldn’t only be a tech project. It would be a societal quantum leap. We would finally break the dependence on US Cloud services, Chinese hardware and data monopolies. And… We would grow out of the service society and into a true knowledge society.
Where mechanical engineering stagnates, software could boom. Where the automotive industry declines, the digital industry could rise. We could create Europe’s own ‘Silicon Valley moment’—but with purpose.
From Silicon Saxony to Digital Europe
Dresden has demonstrated that with vision and investment it’s possible to build world leading industrial clusters. 60 000 jobs in the semiconductor industry, 2000 companies in the ecosystem. Why not take it further to another level? Why not software made in Europe – from people that don’t “move fast and break things”, but who “build fair and make it last”.
A better internet is possible
The internet we once wanted – open, free, inspiring – could become a reality again. If we have our own platforms, our own apps, our own systems, then there’s a chance to reclaim tech.
No longer for Wall Street, no longer for the algorithms, but for us. For the user. For children who can say with pride: I’m using something that belongs to us all.
Europe, wake up
It’s not about copying Apple or Google. It’s about regaining control over our digital identity.
We can do that. We have the knowledge, the money, the people and the vision.
What’s missing is the courage.
The future doesn’t belong to the ones who control the market – but to the ones who take responsibility.
So, Europe… you shouldn’t only get going, but you should never stop going!
P.S. My sponsor ASUS builds some amazing laptops and are happy to help
