Trump’s aggression sours Europe
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This week, WIRED Start explores how companies in the EU are starting to look for ways to ditch Amazon, Google, and Microsoft cloud services amid fears of rising security risks from the US.
The global backlash against the second Donald Trump administration keeps on growing. Canadians have boycotted US-made products, anti–Elon Musk posters have appeared across London amid widespread Tesla protests, and European officials have drastically increased military spending as US support for Ukraine falters. Dominant US tech services may be the next focus.
There are early signs that some European companies and governments are souring on their use of American cloud services provided by the three so-called hyperscalers. Between them, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) host vast swathes of the internet and keep thousands of businesses running. However, some organizations appear to be reconsidering their use of these companies’ cloud services—including servers, storage, and databases—citing uncertainties around privacy and data access fears under the Trump administration.
“There’s a huge appetite in Europe to de-risk or decouple the over-dependence on US tech companies, because there is a concern that they could be weaponized against European interests,” says Marietje Schaake, a nonresident fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and a former, decade-long member of the European Parliament.
The moves may already be underway. On March 18, politicians in the Netherlands House of Representatives passed eight motions asking the government to reduce reliance on US tech companies and move to European alternatives. Days before, more than 100 organizations signed an open letter to European officials calling for the continent to become “more technologically independent” and saying the status quo creates “security and reliability risks.”
Two European-based cloud service companies, Exoscale and Elastx, tell WIRED they have seen an uptick in potential customers looking to abandon US cloud providers over the last two weeks—with some already starting to make the jump. Multiple technology advisers say they are having widespread discussions about what it would take to uproot services, data, and systems.
“We have more demand from across Europe,” says Mathias Nöbauer, the CEO of Swiss-based hosting provider Exoscale, adding there has been an increase in new customers seeking to move away from cloud giants. “Some customers were very explicit,” Nöbauer says. “Especially customers from Denmark being very explicit that they want to move away from US hyperscalers because of the US administration and what they said about Greenland.”
“It's a big worry about the uncertainty around everything. And from the Europeans’ perspective—that the US is maybe not on the same team as us any longer,” says Joakim Öhman, the CEO of Swedish cloud provider Elastx. “Those are the drivers that bring people or organizations to look at alternatives.”
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Professor Dr Joseph Chikelue Obi | News | Medical Doctor | Black Politician | Mentor | Lobbyist | Activist | Advocate | Humanitarian | Alternative Medicine | Campaigns | Lobbying | Health Care | Business | Healthcare.
4mo. . . RELAX . . . . . . STOP PANICKING . . . . . . We Will Survive . . . . . . Europe Cannot Be Defeated (By America) . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPV7xjIzJxg
“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” said Obama
Professor (Retired)
4moYou bet! I will buy something at double the price or make due without before I buy American again
Communications Manager | Creating great value through strategy, communication and change 🚀
4moI absolutely think this creates opportunity for European companies, or companies from other countries with clearer democratic values than the US at this time. Only time will tell I guess, but as for the vast governmental apparatus of the Nordic welfare countries(where I work) discussions are happening all over about just this kind of question.