Principled Big Tech: European pursuit of technological autonomy

Report

– The European Union is pursuing technological autonomy from a position of relative weakness given the scarcity of European Big Tech companies, while American and Chinese giants occupy critical network nodes. Companies are able to leverage these nodes politically through ‘weaponised interdependence’.

– This chapter argues that the answer to this situation is sought through the concept of ‘Principled Big Tech’. !e EU attempts to advance its own knowledge and industrial base while actively developing and using disruptive technologies in line with liberal political values.

– Implementing Chinese 5G technology poses a challenge for critical national infrastructure functions. !e securitisation and ongoing decoupling of global supply chains in sensitive technologies is adding to the pressure for European cooperation on strategic assets.

– Leading EU member states, including France and Germany, have not yet found a coordinated agreement on action for advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence in order to ensure collaborative

efforts.

Authors: Jakobsson, AJ; Stolz, MS

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
• Pages: 107-127
• Series: FIIA Report
• Series number: 67
• Place of publication: Helsinki, Finland
• Publication date: 2021-04-29
• Acceptance date: 2021-01-01
• EISSN: 2323-5454
• ISSN: 1458-994X
• EISBN: 9789517696821
• ISBN: 9789517696814
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR