Tech-optimism from the heart of Europe. Bridging EU policymaking with Europe's tech entrepreneurs. Led by @KayJebelli
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๐ ๐ช๐บ Welcome to DG Progress! ๐ช๐บ ๐
The European Commission doesnโt yet have a Directorate-General dedicated to Europeโs economic, social, and consumer progressโso weโre filling in.
DG Progress is here to help bridge the gap between Europeโs builders and our policymaking bubble. We will shed light on Europe's strengths, advocate for what its innovators need to make the next great leaps, and share ways to get involved.
๐ฌ Subscribe here: dgprogress.eu/
๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐'๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
๐ฅ๏ธ ๐ธ๐ช On 15 October, in Stockholm, the ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ initiative launched Sferical One, which it calls a sovereign AI supercomputer: "an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD built on NVIDIA DGX GB300 systems". Ericsson says it has been running since late summer.
The owners are the interesting part. ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ, ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฏ, ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ด ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ founded it, with the bearings maker SKF as a strategic partner. A telecoms vendor, a pharmaceutical company, a defence group, a bank and an industrial investor. No investment figure has been disclosed.
Jenny Nordlรถw, chief executive of Sferical AI: "Sferical One enables the companies to train and run AI models at a larger scale on a sovereign platform."
Six countries buying one supercomputer together is a familiar European argument, and it usually takes a government programme. Six companies did this one without one. None of them could justify the machine alone, none competes with the others, and what they share is not the hardware but what gets learned on it. That's European collaboration at work ๐ฅ๏ธ๐ช๐บ
Source: ericsson.com/en/news/2026/10โฆ
๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ณ% ๐๐ผ ๐ญ๐ด% ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
๐ ๐ช๐บ On 14 October the European Commission's ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ published "AI adoption across European strategic sectors", built on Eurostat's survey of ICT use in enterprises, 2021 to 2025.
It puts AI use across the ten sectors the EU calls strategic at ๐ญ๐ด% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ, ๐๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ณ% ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ญ. Energy sector went from 18% to 34%, electronics from 12% to 30%.
Across the rest of the EU economy the same measure went from ๐ด% ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฌ%.
The JRC's own conclusion is that "Sector-specific measures for AI adoption are essential for a deeper integration of AI into core processes".
But the progress so far is encouraging. Adoption more than doubled in four years in every sector measured, and slightly faster outside the strategic list than on it. What moves all ten at once is horizontal: legal certainty, access to the frontier, and people who can use it. ๐๐ช๐บ
Source: joint-research-centre.ec.eurโฆ
In this month's "โฝ Policy Pitstop"
Three big things happened to the Single Market in five weeks.
Von der Leyen told Parliament the Single Market overhaul has to be finished โby the end of next yearโ. The founders behind EU Inc published an appeal to Europeโs Prime Ministers headlined โDear Europe, why are you killing EU Inc?โ And Germany, Italy and Belgium asked the European Council for an emergency brake on EU rule-making, on behalf of 19 member states.
Plus the KIDS Act, and the AI and copyright consultation that closes on 3 November.
Our read on all of it, in Octoberโs newsletter ๐dgprogress.eu/i/221280961/poโฆ
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ $๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐, ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ
๐ก ๐ฌ๐ง On 14 October ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐, at Milton Park in Oxfordshire, raised an oversubscribed Series B of $๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป led by Bullhound Capital. AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading and the British Business Bank took part.
What it builds is optical circuit switching, or OCS. A conventional switch turns light into electricity to route it, then back again. An OCS leaves the light alone and opens a path for it. Salience showed a ๐ฒ๐ฐ-๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ all-optical switch at ECOC 2026 and is developing 128- and 256-port versions.
Vaysh Kewada, chief executive and co-founder: "OCS will play a critical role in AI datacenter networking."
Keeping light as light is one of the hard problems in AI infrastructure, and the answer came out of more than a decade of research at Oxford and Mรผnster. The company calls it an industry first for silicon photonics-based optical circuit switching. A second office on the American west coast follows the customers; the invention stays in Oxfordshire. ๐ก๐ช๐บ
Source: thenextweb.com/news/salienceโฆ
๐ฐ๐ฎ% ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐
๐ ๐ช๐บ On 14 October the ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป published a Flash Eurobarometer on AI and algorithmic management in European SMEs and mid-caps: 12,826 phone interviews with the heads of firms of 1 to 749 employees, across all 27 member states, in March and April 2026.
๐ฐ๐ฎ% already use it, "mostly in a limited and experimental way". Another 21% plan to. For what? Customer service leads at 47%, performance monitoring at 36%, logistics and scheduling at 30%.
Then the barriers. High investment costs are named by 50% of companies, legal uncertainty by ๐ฐ๐ต%, nearly as much. Lack of expertise following closely at 48%.
Only one of those three is a policy output that can get fixed right away. Hardware gets cheaper on its own and expertise arrives with use. Legal certainty is made in Brussels, and it is currently the cheapest growth measure available EU-wide. ๐๐ช๐บ
Source: employment-social-affairs.ecโฆ
In this month's "๐๏ธ Making Progress"
A reusable rocket demonstrator built jointly by the German, French and Japanese space agencies, with Norwegian propulsion test-fired in Japan. A European launcher with its biggest order book since it entered service, filled by customers including Amazon and Koreaโs KT SAT. A privately funded European rocket reaching orbit from a Norwegian island. And a foreign customer signing twenty-two years of Finnish nuclear output.
Europe can do big, slow, multi-decade things. It does them with allies โ and it does them when somebody commits to buy what comes out the other end.
All six stories are in Octoberโs DG Progress newsletter ๐
dgprogress.eu/i/221280961/maโฆ
October's DG Progress newsletter is live! In this edition:
๐๏ธ Europe builds big โ a reusable rocket demonstrator shared between three space agencies, Ariane's largest order intake since it entered service, and a 22-year nuclear PPA underwriting Google's Finnish build-out
โฝ Von der Leyen puts the Single Market at the centre, founders ask why Europe is killing EU Inc, and 19 Member States call for a bureaucracy emergency brake
๐ MEP Svenja Hahn on why pre-regulating out of fear is the wrong instinct, and whether the AI Act strikes the balance its own recitals claim
๐ฃ๏ธ The consultations closing before December โ web scraping, AI and copyright โ plus the Apply AI Summit
๐ช Gerardo Fortuna on what makes Brussels a bit different in mid-September
dgprogress.eu/p/europes-launโฆ
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ-๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐
๐ช๐บ On 16 October the ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐น published its latest summit conclusions on competitiveness. It underlines "the importance of advancing negotiations on deliverables for 2026, notably the 28th regime for company law", along with the Industrial Accelerator Act, the European grids package and the digital, environmental and automotive simplification packages.
That's the risk. In the rush to find compromise we end up with an EU Inc that no European founder wants to use. And instead we'll miss a generational opportunity and push more high-growth innovative companies to focus on the US instead of what should be their home.
Europe needs the legal and administrative infrastructure to compete in the global digital economy. EU Inc can be a foundational step forward. We now have ten-weeks to decide what kind of future Europe is going to have. ๐ช๐บ
Source: consilium.europa.eu/en/pressโฆ
