Welcome to ICYMI – a weekly snapshot of European news stories that have given me pause for thought. ICYMI is a chance for you to go beyond the front-page headlines and find out what other stories may be worthy of your attention. This week:
- Microsoft offers new opaque cloud offerings to Europeans
- EU startups chasing NATO contracts
- French startups focus on profitability not growth
The growing crescendo of calls for European companies to take back digital sovereignty has sparked a response this week from Microsoft.
The US tech giant dispatched its CEO Satya Nadella to Amsterdam to unveil new cloud offerings that address data sovereignty issues. These include encryption options where even Microsoft cannot access the data, and three new deployment models, like locally managed clouds by government-approved partners, planned by year-end.
As the German media Spiegel reports, it is a reaction not just to the EU’s championing of digital sovereignty but also the US Cloud Act, which stipulates that American companies must provide government access to data, even if stored abroad. Microsoft aims to counter this with technical and contractual safeguards, including customer-controlled encryption and stricter access rules involving only EU-based staff.
Microsoft’s move is not solely a direct response to EU concerns. It is also a competitive positioning against players like AWS and Google, especially in regulated sectors.
Meanwhile Denmark has just underlined the issues focusing the minds of Satya Nadella and his team by announcing it is to replace Microsoft Windows and Office 365 with Linux and LibreOffice, citing concerns about overreliance on a few foreign tech suppliers. Dutch media Bright reports that starting this summer, half the ministry will already have made the switch, with Minister Caroline Stage Olsen stressing the importance of digital independence. The move reflects Denmark’s role as a potential tech trendsetter in Europe, highlighting growing interest in open-source alternatives across governments.
The concerns European leaders have over potential reliance on US tech has caught the attention of both the New York Times and Techcrunch.
The latter, which claims it is expanding European coverage despite recently laying off its entire Europe-based editorial team, highlighted the flashpoint of President Donald Trump sanctioning Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, over the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
In response, Microsoft turned off Khan’s email address. Casper Klynge, a former diplomat who has also worked for Microsoft, told the NYT that Microsoft’s action became “the smoking gun that many Europeans had been looking for,” pushing them to look at alternative options.
At the same time, The European Commission is also prioritising its tech future. AG Connect says it has invited feedback on its future AI and cloud policy, as well as the implementation of the EU AI Act. Until 3 July 2025, stakeholders can comment on the impact assessment for the “AI Continent” initiative, aimed at closing Europe’s gap with the US and China in AI and cloud infrastructure. The Commission highlights the need for more data centres, streamlined permitting processes, and stronger European cloud providers.
There may be some wins for European startups though. The volatile geopolitical situation has sparked a rise in defence spending in many countries, and European tech startups are eagerly targeting NATO as it accelerates innovation through its Diana initiative. Led by COO Jyoti Hirani-Driver, NATO Diana aims to support dual-use tech (civilian and military), with new funding and mentoring programs boosting small firms in fields like AI, drones, and cybersecurity. The recent NATO summit in The Hague further heightened interest, with calls open until July 11 for proposals addressing ten key military tech challenges. Alexander Ribbink (Keen Venture Partners, investor in defence tech companies, among others) recently said that entrepreneurs and their financiers would like to see a cash flow coming together at some speed.
Facing economic uncertainties and reduced venture funding, French Tech startups are now prioritising profitability over rapid growth, says Les Echos. This strategic pivot marks a shift from aggressive expansion to sustainable financial health, with investors increasingly demanding clear paths to break even.
Finally, BFM reports that in France 15% of people under 25, believe ChatGPT is a better source of information than the press. The total number of respondents who say they use AI every week to get information is “relatively low” (7%), according to the report. But this proportion is “higher” among young people: it rises to 12% among those under 35 and 15% among those under 25. Among these tools, ChatGPT is the most widely used source of information, ahead of Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama. Respondents consider these tools useful for personalizing information and making it more relevant to the user. Examples include summarising articles to make them quicker to read (27% of respondents), translating them (24%), making recommendations (21%), and even answering questions about current events (18%).
