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Microsoft outage renews European calls for digital sovereignty

29h

Summary

  • A Microsoft outage lasting nearly 24 hours disrupted Outlook and Teams for millions of users across 74 countries.
  • The outage hit tech and government leaders gathered in Dublin for the EU's first meeting of national leaders on artificial intelligence.
  • Lawmakers and executives urged Europe to reinvest in infrastructure it controls and to reduce reliance on US technology firms.
  • Tech sovereignty over cloud, chips, and AI models has been a rallying cry of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's second mandate.

Reactions

  • French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X: 'Our independence cannot be outsourced. It must be built here at home, in Europe.'
  • Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch recommended reinvesting money spent on foreign, US or Chinese, technology in infrastructure Europe controls and European research.
  • Finnish lawmaker Aura Salla said Europe has outsourced too much of its digital infrastructure to actors outside the EU and urged government contracts to support European technology.
  • Digital SME Alliance Secretary General Sebastian Toffaletti called the outage a reminder of the systemic risk of concentrating digital infrastructure with a few global tech giants.
  • UK Liberal Democrat tech spokesperson Victoria Collins called for urgent action to stop relying on a handful of companies and a digital sovereign strategy.
  • An EU diplomat present at the Dublin talks recommended that Europe pick up speed on permitting and investment to compete and gain sovereignty.

Timeline newest first

  1. A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted Outlook and Teams for nearly 24 hours, affecting millions of users in 74 countries on Friday.
  2. The outage hit tech and government leaders gathered in Dublin for the EU's first-ever meeting of national leaders on artificial intelligence.
  3. Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch told EU leaders in Dublin that only 20% of European digital services run on European infrastructure.
  4. Tech sovereignty was a key agenda item at the Friday gathering of the leaders of the EU's 27 member countries in Dublin.

Sources newest first

  • Microsoft outage renews European calls to detox from US techpolitico.eu· 29h

    A Politico Europe article reports from Dublin that Friday's Microsoft outage, which hit Outlook and Teams for nearly 24 hours across 74 countries, renewed European calls to control its own digital infrastructure. Lawmakers and executives — including Mistral's Arthur Mensch, who said only 20% of European digital services run on European infrastructure — urged reinvestment and digital sovereignty, and Emmanuel Macron posted on X, "Our independence cannot be outsourced."