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Episode details

Radio 4,18 Mar 2026,14 mins

3. Europe's AI Challenge

The Race to Control the World

Available for over a year

Can Europe end its reliance on US and Chinese tech companies before it's too late? Europe is waking up to the risks of over-relying on US and Chinese technology. Misha Glenny explores the challenges and importance of 'digital sovereignty' - and whether it's too late for Europe to catch up. In this third episode, Misha Glenny reveals how Europe's pension funds are key to tech innovation - and how they invest far more in the US tech giants than the continent's own start-ups. He also hears how China managed to end its dependency on US tech at the start of the millennium - and the risks facing Europe if it fails to do the same. GUESTS: Scott Singer, a fellow in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Parmy Olson, journalist and author of Supremacy: AI, ChatGpt and The Race that Will Change the World Marietje Schaake, former Dutch MEP and current fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center at the Institute for Human-Centered AI Presenter: Misha Glenny Producer: Ben Carter Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Studio mix: James Beard Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

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