Hacker News Reader

Comment by pessimizer | Hacker News Reader

The fact is that there is no potential there. Europe has no leverage over the US. It is not holding back anything, it has nothing.

Somehow when the US went to war with Russia, it ended up completing the conquest of Europe. Europe used to just be stagnant. Now it is stagnant and isolated from everywhere except the US, and the US treats it accordingly.

View on HN

Europe has, in no particular order:

- ASML

- Nukes

- Large proportion of US bonds

- One of the wealthiest and most profitable markets in the world

- The world's largest trade network - currently aggressively expanding into LatAm with the Mercosur deal despite Trump's Monroe 2.0 ambitions.

Just a few off the the top of my head. There's plenty leverage there.

> ASML

Who's the customer base of ASML? Are they predominantly based in Europe?

They are predominantly Taiwan, and South Korea.

ASML is also hostage as well.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/asml-gives-europe...

Although the articles also claims that "ASML has already started to reduce its dependence on American technology".

> ASML relies on the United States for several of its components, and it’s this very reliance that has allowed the United States to use the Foreign Direct Product Rule and impose export controls on ASML products. However, there are signs of a shift. ASML has already started to reduce its dependence on American technology, aligning with the EU’s goal of strategic autonomy. Earlier this month, ASML announced a major investment in Mistral, France’s flagship AI startup. The Dutch firm invested $1.5 billion in Mistral, becoming the company’s largest shareholder. The deal was widely seen by policymakers as a move that strengthens European ‘digital sovereignty.’ In a sector dominated by American tech giants, ASML’s Mistral investment represents a growing realization from Europe: cooperation within the bloc is necessary for the EU to stay competitive in the AI race.

---

I don't follow, how exactly does the investment into a French AI startup reduce ASML's "dependence on American technology"? Is it a supply-chain dependence, or a revenue-making dependence?

You can add the Swift payment system and the Euroclear and Clearstream clearing houses.

Also FATCA compliance.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com