A few days ago, Stripe published a chart that went viral: the volume of payments it processes for AI companies in the United States is about 30 times that of Europe. Twenty years after Quaero, the failed "European Google", the tech gap between the two sides of the Atlantic keeps widening, and AI seems to be making it worse.

Some economists, including Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, aren't so pessimistic. Their argument is that Europe can simply "let them invent it", as Unamuno put it: American technology gets cheaper every year and Europeans enjoy it just as much as Americans. But the data tells a different story. Tech giants keep margins of 30 to 40 percent, technology replaces other goods, and the companies that gain the most are the ones surrounded by a strong tech sector.

That's why the AI race that really matters isn't about building the best model, but about using it. Around 40% of American workers already use generative AI, compared to 30% or less in Germany, France or Italy. In this video we explain why Europe is falling behind again and what it would need to catch up.