SPD digital politicians Johannes Schätzl and Matthias Mieves advocate for mobilizing one trillion euros in private capital to fund investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Their strategy paper suggests that Europe cannot rely on state funds-or “gigantomania paid for by taxpayers”-to address the increasing AI dominance held by the USA and China.
The primary motivation for this push is mounting concern over potential security risks posed by advanced AI models, such as those developed by US company Anthropic. For the politicians, this is rapidly shifting from merely a technological concern to a major geopolitical one, making computing power a matter of national security.
To counter these escalating risks, the duo argues that Europe must invest heavily in strategic infrastructure. Crucially, they insist that the government should not take on the role of the main financier. Instead, they propose channeling private capital into these future technologies. They specifically target capital from insurance companies, pension funds, and institutional investors, directing it toward areas like AI computing power, start-ups, scale-ups, and European technology providers.
To make such investments more attractive, the politicians suggest implementing state purchasing guarantees for specific AI computing services. This would create predictable demand, making investments more calculable. According to the SPD paper, government involvement should focus on setting stable conditions regarding safety, data protection, energy efficiency, pricing, location, and favorable working conditions, arguing that this approach is significantly superior to merely providing “blanket subsidies”.