EU and AI at Davos 2025, by Toju Duke, a Top AI Expert, Ex-Google

4 Mar 2026 · 2 min

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In this monologue, the speaker analyzes the recent Davos address by the EU President Ursula, highlighting a strategic pivot from heavy regulation toward an AI‑first, innovation‑centric stance. Key announcements include the creation of a new pan‑European corporate vehicle called “EU Inc.” that will allow companies to register across member states within 48 hours, facilitating rapid formation of AI startups. The EU also pledges increased investment capital to bolster the AI ecosystem and emphasizes the need for affordable energy across the Union, hinting at potential support for sustainable AI infrastructure. The speaker raises two critical follow‑up questions: how the existing EU AI Act will coexist with this new innovation‑first approach, and whether the energy focus will translate into more sustainable AI data centers and greater EU ownership of AI development. The overall tone is analytical and cautiously optimistic, noting both opportunities and uncertainties as the AI revolution unfolds.

Chapters

What does the EU's president's speech on AI at Davos mean? The president of the EU gave a special address at Davos a few days ago which touched on the Union's position on the AI ecosystem. It reflects a more lean, agile, and innovative stance on AI development. If you recall, I did predict more national AI sovereignty in 2026, and that's what's happening. There are a few points to note from President Ursula's speech. One, there's less heavy focus on regulation and more focus on innovation and supporting new businesses with an AI-first approach. The EU will create a new European company called EU Inc., enabling businesses to operate easily across the EU states and register companies within 48 hours. This means that new AI startups can easily be formed. The second point is that the EU will now have more investments and capital available to further support innovation across startups and the entire business ecosystem. And the third point is more focus on affordable energy across the EU states. However, there are a few points that need clarification from this speech. How will the EU AI Act operate with this new AI-first positioning? And secondly, does the focus on energy also apply to AI infrastructure? Will there be an increase in sustainable AI data centers and the overall ownership of AI development by the EU? It's been interesting times, and it'll be great to see how this all pans out in the coming months as the AI revolution remains.