Google has criticized the European Union’s intentions to achieve digital sovereignty through open-source software. The company warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech companies could harm competitiveness. According to Google, the idea of replacing current tools with open-source programs would not contribute to economic growth.
Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs and chief legal officer, warned of a competitive paradox that Europe is facing. According to the Financial Times, he said that creating regulatory barriers would be harmful in a context of rapid technological advancement. His remarks came just days after the European Commission concluded a public consultation assessing the transition to open-source software.
Google’s chief legal officer clarified that he is not opposed to digital sovereignty, but recommended making use of the “best technologies in the world.” Walker suggested that American companies could collaborate with European firms to implement measures ensuring data protection. Local management or servers located in Europe to store information are among the options.
The EU is preparing a technological sovereignty package aimed at eliminating dependence on third-party software, such as Google’s. After reviewing proposals, it concluded that reliance on external suppliers for critical infrastructure entails economic risks and creates vulnerabilities. The strategy focuses not only on regulation but also on adopting open-source software to achieve digital sovereignty.
According to Google, this change would represent a problem for users. Walker argues that the market moves faster than legislation and warns that regulatory friction will only leave European consumers and businesses behind in what he calls “the most competitive technological transition we have ever seen.” As it did with the DMA and other laws, Google is playing on fear. Kent Walker suggested that this initiative would stifle innovation and deny people access to the “best digital tools.”
The promotion of open-source software aims to break dependence on foreign suppliers, especially during a period of instability caused by the Trump administration. The European Union has highlighted the risks of continuing under this system and proposes that public institutions should have full control over their own technology.
According to a study on the impact of open-source software, the European Commission found that it contributes between €65 billion and €95 billion annually to the European Union’s GDP. The executive body estimates that a 10% increase in contributions to open-source software would generate an additional €100 billion in growth for the bloc’s economy.
MoRe OpTiOnS iS bAd FoR cOmPeTiTiOn
competition is bad for competition
checks out
translation: having more competitors harms our chance of winning against them
I’m not sure why anyone in EU, bloc or therefore canada should even care what an American company opinion would be at this point. They said they were moving on. They did.
So, you’re saying Google has selection bias?
How DARE they try to ELIMINATE our Services after ALL the MONEY we Poured in Donald Trump’s POCKETS!
The leopard of consequences is hungry for tech oligarch faces.
Eat, you majestic creature. And godspeed.
What a preposterous argument google is making. Yes it stifles innovation having open source software and not licensing it from the soul-less mega corporation with the US government willing to break kneecaps for it (if they pay up,) that we know helps the US steal information, and themselves steals every big of information they can get their grasping hands on, both legally and illegally.
Yes Europe wouldn’t have the best tools, if they weren’t beholden to a mega corporation that could use the out of control drunk with power US to back up their market interests! Talk about an incredible argument. We will see, I bet europe caves to US pressure, as they did all last year, and just goes along with tech plans to bring the trojan horses of chatcontrol and age checks inside the walls of liberal democracies, to ultimately make secret social scores to determine every part of how a person is treated from business to government. Those decisions made by the worst people in the world like Palantir in cooperation with politicians.
As to keeping data in europe so the us couldn’t access it, ha. What were you born yesterday? Google is beholden to the US that can make or break them in a thousand million ways. They will find a way, (they already have,) to grab all the data, stored in europe or whereever. You know it, same way we knew before snowden the feds were grabbing everything they could get their grasping hands on.
Because who is going to stop them?
really fun fuck you google
Remember, whenever you see a patently weak argument like this from a trillion dollar corporation, they’re not saying it because they think anyone will believe it. They’re saying it to give the corrupt politicians in their pocket some way to pull a straight face when voting in the corporation’s favour.
We saw already tech paying off the US to bully europe into backing off of their previous demands and controls on tech. Europe has bad leadership, they backed off, and surrendered all last year to the US administration, there is no reason to think they won’t this time after google pays them off to do it again.
Europe is too busy trying to bring in the trojan horses of age checks and chatcontrol behind the gates to worry about protecting from tech, but rather to cooperate with tech to subjugate their citizens to secret social scores to determine winners and losers in life, with peter thiel and his ilk doing the deciding. The UK is already most of the way there, and the rest of europe is trying to follow, over and over and over. They only need to win once, the defenders of liberal democracy need to win every time.
Europe needs real leadership pushing popular reform. They will fall to fascists in league with the US that will fix their elections too on their current course of status quo mainstream politics with the far right as the only real reform option.
We give them reform, or nazis will, those are the only two choices, and the starmers and macrons of the world still don’t know it or don’t care.
Fuck you, Google.
This is good. It means that the efforts are working and Google is getting nervous. Let them get nervous and let’s give them a lot more to be nervous about.
“Buy my shovel! Don’t buy that other guys shovel!” Ah, capitalism, you crazy old whore.
Google trying to scare Europe into giving them money and power back in their region 😥 Stfu and let Europe get their individuality and contribute to open source projects which will help Americans like me much more than any amount of money given to Google.
the idea of replacing current tools with open-source programs would not contribute to economic growth.
Wrong.
creating regulatory barriers would be harmful in a context of rapid technological advancement
Wrong.
Walker suggested that American companies could collaborate with European firms
What does he not understand about digital sovereignty?
According to Google, this change would represent a problem for users
No, for Google. Also, wrong.
that the market moves faster than legislation and warns, that regulatory friction will only leave European consumers and businesses behind in what he calls “the most competitive technological transition we have ever seen.”
If that’s the price to avoid technofaschism… And, again, wrong.
Tl;dr: stop wanking, Walker.
I don’t know if he believes his own made up BS here, but these are some really idiotic statements. I’m glad the EU is taking steps to not use infrastructure created by a fascist government. At this point I don’t think there’s a reason to distinguish FANG (and their friends) from the government seeing how buddy buddy they all are with each other.
This is like a “no shit Google doesn’t want this” which makes moving over to the Euro style even better. Everyone opposed to what huge tech corporations are doing (should be everyone) should see this as a sign that you should make the change.
What happened to: “Google ❤️ open source”
I think it’s buried the same place they put the do no evil slogan. No body no crime as they say.
They love appropriating it, not when people use it to kick their evil asses to the curb
Sacrificed on the profit altar, it would seem.
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