The IO+ Week – The chip is European. Will the company remain so?

Sometimes, a piece of news is bigger than the figure in the headline. The more than €200 million raised this week by Eindhoven-based AI chip startup EUCLYD is a perfect example. Of course, a funding round of this size is impressive. But what lies behind it is even more important: a serious European attempt to regain control over the infrastructure on which artificial intelligence runs. The partnership with Dresden-based memory specialist FMC reinforces that story. Europe is not merely building a chip here, but its own chain of computing power, memory and energy-efficient AI systems.

This is geopolitically significant. Those who control the hardware, data centres and critical components of AI ultimately determine the conditions under which the technology can be used. For Europe, this is therefore about more than economic growth. It also concerns defence, healthcare, banking, government and the protection of sensitive data. EUCLYD shows that Europe is not condemned to running American AI models exclusively on Asian chips. With our expertise in semiconductors, systems engineering and energy efficiency, we can indeed claim a position of our own.

Something still nags

And yet, something still nags. By European standards, €200 million is an exceptional amount, but in the global AI race, it is mainly the price of admission. If EUCLYD succeeds, further rounds requiring much larger sums will almost certainly follow. That is when Silicon Valley and the rest of the United States will start to beckon, with deeper capital markets, major customers and investors accustomed to betting billions on a single technology. In its startup and scaleup strategy, the European Commission itself acknowledges that access to growth capital is a structural European weakness.

That is why we cannot place responsibility for European sovereignty solely on Bernardo Kastrup and his team. If we want EUCLYD to remain European, Europe must do more than applaud proudly. It must keep investing, mobilise launch customers, and ensure that intellectual property, decision-making power, and high-quality employment remain anchored here. This week, we may celebrate the fact that Europe is still in the race. Then comes the hardest part: making sure it stays there.

Here is a selection of our articles about EUCLYD’s European dream:

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/na-ronde-van-200m-werkt-euclyd-met-fmc-aan-soevereine-ai

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/eindhovense-ai-startup-euclyd-haalt-ruim-200m-op

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/wat-samsungs-investering-in-euclyd-zegt-over-europas-dominantie

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/bernardo-kastrup-ziet-voor-europa-nog-n-kans-in-de-ai-race

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/hoe-een-europese-droom-zou-kunnen-botsen-op-financile-realiteit-

But, of course, there was more news this week. Here is our selection:

Trump’s long arm reaches deep into Europe’s digital infrastructure

A US terrorist designation, a post on X and a nervous administrator of the .org domain were enough to make an Italian nonprofit virtually disappear from the internet. The story of Autistici/Inventati painfully demonstrates how dependent Europe still is on American infrastructure and regulations. Digital sovereignty can sound abstract—until a single decision in Washington causes European websites, bank accounts and payment services to be shut down.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/trumps-lange-arm-hoe-een-vs-lijst-een-italiaanse-site-velde

For a first factory, optimism is a risk

Developing a groundbreaking technology is one thing; making it work at an industrial scale for the first time is something else entirely. Research by Invest-NL and AFRY into First-of-a-Kind projects shows that schedules, costs and integration challenges are underestimated almost systematically. The technology itself is often not the greatest danger—unrealistic assumptions are. Those serious about scaling up therefore need to be not less ambitious, but considerably more realistic.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/first-of-a-kind-projecten-waarom-realisme-wint-van-optimisme

Cool down first, send later

Many online threats arise during a few seconds of anger, while their consequences can persist for years. Merien ten Houten therefore proposes a digital cooling-off period: allow a local AI model to recognize threatening messages and hold them for thirty to sixty minutes. Users would ultimately retain the right to send the message, but would have to make that choice consciously once the initial emotion had subsided. It offers an interesting middle ground between doing nothing and censorship.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/een-rem-op-online-haat-afkoelen

An innovation nation that invests too little

The Netherlands performs exceptionally well in digitalization, AI and innovation, but lags far behind when it comes to actual investment. According to Professor Cees van Beers, growth is being constrained by grid congestion, nitrogen restrictions, a lack of space and high costs. Knowledge and patents alone are not enough: without capital and the right conditions, inventions will not reach the market, and the Netherlands could still lose its strong position.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/innovatief-nederland-investeert-te-weinig-nederland-zal-dalen

Axelera brings Europa into the server room

Axelera AI is another Dutch company developing an alternative to Nvidia’s dominance. Its second-generation chip is aptly named Europa and brings energy-efficient AI inference from the edge to enterprise servers and data centers. With more than six hundred customers, Axelera shows that European AI hardware is not merely a strategic ambition—it is increasingly becoming a commercial product.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/axelera-ai-gaat-strijd-aan-met-nvidia-met-nieuwe-europa-chip

From Gyro Gearloose to an R&D space of her own

Luci Santema knew from childhood that she wanted to become an inventor. She read the adventures of Gyro Gearloose, built her own solutions and visited people to help solve their everyday problems. Today, through Ziemi, she is developing biomotion lighting that makes cyclists’ moving legs more visible. It is a wonderful and personal story about curiosity, entrepreneurship and a childhood dream that ultimately led to an R&D space of her own.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/de-vrouw-achter-ziemi-wist-als-kind-al-dat-ze-zou-uitvinden

Luci Santema

Creating more room on the power grid with wind

Grid congestion is not only about having too few cables; it is also about the maximum temperatures power lines can safely withstand. Estonian company Gridraven therefore predicts with great precision how much wind will blow around individual sections of a power line. Even a light breeze can significantly increase its safe transmission capacity. Such forecasts allow grid operators to make better use of the infrastructure already in place.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/waarom-windvoorspellingen-d-oplossing-zijn-voor-netcongestie

Fred Roozeboom is far from finished pioneering

Fred Roozeboom is 74, but he has little interest in slowing down. The emeritus professor and former Philips researcher will soon receive a prestigious award from The Electrochemical Society. Meanwhile, he advises startups, writes weighty handbooks and works on applications of atomic layer deposition to combat PFAS. His motivation remains unchanged: pure curiosity.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/fred-roozeboom-74-blijft-rusteloos-pionieren

Dutch water expertise takes on a new meaning

Dutch water innovation has long since moved beyond simply building higher dikes. From a flood barrier that automatically rises with the river to sponge cities, water reuse, predictive software and nature-based coastal protection, the latest solutions combine technology with landscape design, governance and local knowledge. This is also changing what the Netherlands offers internationally. We are not simply exporting a Dutch engineering structure, but a way of dealing with an increasingly unpredictable water system.

https://ioplus.nl/nl/posts/7-nederlandse-waterinnovaties-voor-een-nieuwe-wereld

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