Brussels chases Silicon Valley, but the China model looms

The strategy marks a pivot in how the European Union approaches industrial competition. Enrico Letta, a veteran EU policymaker, recently noted that while public funding historically fueled major scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence has shifted the power dynamic toward venture capital. Brussels is now attempting to replicate the Silicon Valley engine by backing high-growth startups, betting that strategic capital injections will ignite a dormant ecosystem.

Yet, the focus on private-led growth ignores the alternative path taken by Beijing, which has aggressively directed capital toward specific industrial goals. As the EU attempts to scale its own tech champions, the tension remains: whether to rely on the market-driven venture model of the United States or the state-steered industrial policy that defines China’s rapid technological ascent.