The power algorithm and the risk of a Europe too small
From chips to data centres, the node of AI risks widening the gap between Europe and Big Tech and changing work
Artificial intelligence is not just ChatGpt. It is an industrial chain of chips, cloud, data, energy and economic power. And it is a gigantic political issue. At the Trento Festival of Economics, in the panel 'The Algorithm of Power: Market Dynamics in the Age of Technology', organised with the Italian Economics Society, the discussion between scholars and economists tries to move the debate away from enthusiasm for innovation.
Federico Boffa, from the Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, points the way in the opening: we need more informed citizens and more aware public policies. Behind the apparent simplicity of AI, however, lies an ecosystem dominated by a few giants. Carlo Cambini, from the Turin Polytechnic, describes it as a layered supply chain: chips, cloud and language models. 'Ninety per cent of chips are produced by Nvidia,' he recalls. Then come Google, Microsoft and Amazon, who control the global cloud. Above that are ChatGpt, Gemini and the other generative systems. The higher you go, the more competition grows. But control remains concentrated.
Big Tech is using artificial intelligence to strengthen its presence everywhere: search engines, social networks, platforms, advertising. Cambini cites Google AI Overview and Meta AI integrated into WhatsApp as examples of a 'vertical integration' that expands the dominance of large groups.
For Alessandra Bonfiglioli from the University of Bergamo, the real challenge is the ability of countries to stay within this transformation. Stem graduates, digital infrastructure, fibre and data centres are needed. But above all, size is needed. 'If I'm small and have a small market, it's not worth it to me to adopt artificial intelligence,' she observes.
Giacomo Ponzetto, of Crei and Pompeu Fabra University, emphasises the topic of regulation: 'The United States, a pioneer in competition regulation, has then intentionally lagged behind Europe in recent decades. And if we keep on regulating, there are five companies, all in California, making extraordinary profits'.
