Europe in the Intelligent Age 2025

Europe is competitive only in 4 of 14 technology domains FIGURE 2On 14 significant technologies, Europe lags either the US and/or China in 10 (Figure 2).14 This assessment is based on private and public market capital raised, research, publication and patent outputs, and expert judgement per technology domain (see Box 1. Technology assessment methodology). Europe’s market share in new arenas of competition that are set to grow to $30 trillion in market size by 2040 is no more than 9%.15 AI is a case in point: Europe’s market share in most parts of the value chain is less than 5%,16 and the largest corporate investors in Europe spent €25 billion on the technology in 2024, compared with more than €150 billion by the largest US technology firms.17 Also, adoption of technology is lagging in Europe. As one crude indicator, European corporations have invested less than half as much into information and communication technology (ICT) equipment as US firms.18 Quantum technologies Quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum key distribution, quantum sensing Technology domain Based on private- and public-market investments,¹ number of research publications and patents, and expert interviews Europe’s starting point Subdomains in scope (most important categories) Climate technologies² CCUS,³ circular technologies, natural climate solutions, engineered carbon removal Advanced connectivity Optical fibre, LPWAN, HAPS, 5G/6G cellular, Wi-Fi 6 and 7, satellite connectivity Future of robotics Industrial robots, collaborative robots, mobile robots, human-hybrid robots Semiconductors Microchips, integrated circuits, technologies for semiconductor manufacturing Future of space technologies Satellites, launch technologies, remote sensing, habitation technologies Future of mobility Autonomous driving, electric vehicles, urban air mobility, shared-mobility technologies Artificial intelligence (AI) Applied AI technologies, GenAI technologies, industrializing machine learning Cloud and edge computing Data centres, mobile edge computing (MEC), device edge, metro edge Electrification and renewables Renewables, batteries, hydrogen, sustainable fuels, nuclear fission, heat pumps Digital trust and cybersecurity Technologies behind trust architectures, digital identity, cybersecurity, Web3 Immersive-reality technologies Augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality, spatial computing Next-generation software development AI-generated code, low/no-code platforms, infrastructure as code, microservices Future of bioengineering Genomics, proteomics, gene editing, tissue engineering, biomaterials Competitiveness cut-off Undisputed leader Lagging 1. Includes private-market and public-market capital raises (venture capital and corporate and strategic M&A, including joint ventures), private equity (including buyouts and private investment in public equity), and public investments (including initial public offerings); doesn’t include financing of big programmes by large tech companies (cash flow transactions are not reflected) 2. Climate technologies beyond electrification and renewables 3. Carbon capture, utilization and storage. Source: Pitchbook, Lens.org, Patsnap, McKinsey Tech Outlook 2024, expert interviews Europe in the Intelligent Age: From Ideas to Action 7