Do Foreign Governments Need American Tech?

Summary

---

WSJ What’s News – "Do Foreign Governments Need American Tech?"

Date: February 22, 2026
Host: Luke Vargas, The Wall Street Journal
Guests:

• Sam Schechner, WSJ Tech Reporter
• David Amiel, France’s Minister for State Reform

---

Episode Overview

This episode of What's News Sunday focuses on the escalating movement toward "tech sovereignty" in Europe, particularly in France. With Western countries increasingly concerned about their dependence on U.S. technology, host Luke Vargas and his guests discuss why governments like France are curbing the use of American digital tools, what "strategic autonomy" truly means, and whether Europe can realistically rival Silicon Valley’s dominance. The episode explores the implications for U.S. tech firms and offers an inside look at France’s policy push directly from a senior government official leading the effort.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Move Toward Tech Sovereignty in Europe

• Trigger Events: France’s recent order for government workers to stop using U.S. video conferencing and collaboration platforms (e.g., Teams, Zoom, Skype) marks the latest in a broader European effort to reduce reliance on American technology.

  • "The proliferation [of these tools] had made France dependent on non-European actors." (00:47, Luke Vargas)

• Definition & Rationale:

  • Sam Schechner explains the new urgency for digital sovereignty:
    • "[European] leaders have really started to question this transatlantic relationship... Now you start to hear more seriously this conversation of like, well, what would we do if our tech was cut off?" (01:43, Sam Schechner)
  • The pandemic, geopolitical tensions (notably under President Trump and crises like the war in Ukraine), have underscored the need for resilience and self-reliance in critical digital infrastructure.

2. The Scale and Challenge of Decoupling from U.S. Tech

• Depth of Dependence:

  • Sam Schechner notes the enormity of U.S. firms’ dominance in Europe:
    • "For cloud services...the top five American providers have something like 83% market share." (03:11, Sam Schechner)
  • Achieving true independence will take decades, not months or years.

• Immediate Steps vs. Long-Term Projects:

  • Small advances like France’s government-only replacements for established U.S. platforms are achievable, but full sovereignty requires immense investment and innovation.
  • "It's a very, very big lift to separate from US Tech... we're talking a project of decades." (02:34, Sam Schechner)

3. U.S. Tech Industry’s Reaction

• High Stakes:

  • The European market is crucial for U.S. tech giants:
    • "Europe represents, for these big companies, upwards of a quarter of their revenue. I mean, it's no joke. It would be a bloodbath if they were cut off..." (03:42, Sam Schechner)
  • Companies are investing heavily in European presence and R&D to maintain their foothold (e.g., Google’s AI hub in London, AI labs in Paris).

• Mutual Dependency:

  • While Europe needs U.S. tech, U.S. tech also depends on Europe’s market and talent.

4. Europe’s Path to Digital Independence

• Role of Private Sector:

  • Government initiatives can drive adoption in the public sector but real competitiveness comes from a vibrant domestic tech industry.
    • "The government is not going to build a tech ecosystem... the whole game, right, can Europe build and sustain a vibrant tech ecosystem on its own?" (04:21, Sam Schechner)

• Catch-up and Leapfrog Opportunities:

  • While Europe lags in established sectors like cloud, areas like AI (notably through startups like France’s Mistral) present chances to leapfrog.

5. France’s Approach from the Policy Front Line

David Amiel – France’s Minister for State Reform (Joined at 06:35)

• What is Tech Sovereignty?

  • "It means three things. First, avoiding critical dependencies... second, ensure compliance with our values... Third, support European innovation, particularly in cloud computing, in artificial intelligence, in data management..." (06:39, David Amiel)

• Concrete Actions:

  • France’s rollout of 'Visio', a homegrown video conferencing solution, with:
    • R&D by French state and private firms
    • Cloud hosting by French company Outscale
    • AI-powered transcription from Pianote, a startup
  • Importance of adoption: "If you don't provide public agents with state of the art solutions, there will be no adoption and history is full of state led projects that led to nowhere because of that." (08:32, David Amiel)

• Wider Implications:

  • Emphasis on resilience during future crises.
  • Not merely a reaction to U.S. politics, but a longstanding strategic goal: "The sovereignty agenda... it's really been at the heart of what President Macron has been pushing for since his first election in 2017." (10:25, David Amiel)

• Relationship with the U.S.:

  • Strategic autonomy does not mean protectionism:
    • "No, as you know, we don't believe in protectionism. I think that innovation also flourishes on trade, on exchange of ideas and so on." (12:28, David Amiel)

• Lessons from the U.S.:

  • Europe can learn from America's blend of public-private partnership, research institutions, and innovation ecosystems.
    • "When you look at what the U.S. has been really good at, there is no doubt that innovation is at the core of it." (11:27, David Amiel)

• Vision for European Tech Champions:

  • "Definitely, I believe that European should aim at creating European champions in tech... the next frontier is really scaling up through supporting innovation, easing access to capital, streamlining certain regulations and so on." (13:23, David Amiel)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It's a very, very big lift to separate from US Tech... we're talking a project of decades, not something that you can do over the course of a few months."
  (02:34, Sam Schechner)

• "Europe represents... upwards of a quarter of their revenue. I mean, it's no joke. It would be a bloodbath if they were cut off somehow from Europe."
  (03:42, Sam Schechner)

• "There is no strategic autonomy without tech sovereignty."
  (06:36, David Amiel)

• "If you don't provide public agents with state of the art solutions, there will be no adoption and history is full of state led projects that led to nowhere because of that."
  (08:32, David Amiel)

• "We don't believe in protectionism. I think that innovation also flourishes on trade, on exchange of ideas and so on."
  (12:28, David Amiel)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:18–01:43: Episode introduction & overview of France's ban on US tech tools
• 01:43–04:21: Sam Schechner on European tech sovereignty, U.S. tech dominance, and Silicon Valley's response
• 06:16–13:47: Interview with David Amiel – France’s strategy, Visio platform, public/private partnership, and ambitions for European champions

---

Conclusion

This episode makes clear that while Europe—especially France—is determined to pursue digital sovereignty, the scale of existing U.S. tech dominance means any decoupling will be a long-term, complex strategic effort. France sees sovereignty not as protectionism but as resilience, values-driven regulation, and fostering innovation. The mutual dependency between Europe and Silicon Valley will shape the tech landscape for years to come. For listeners wanting to understand the real stakes behind headlines about "tech sovereignty," this episode is essential.

---

Transcript

[Morningstar/Oppenheimer Announcer]

Data is everywhere. But is it ready for consumption? Morningstar developed the language of global investment data so you have the right ingredients to help you shine. Morningstar, where data speaks.

[Luke Vargas]

Hey, what's news, listeners? It's Sunday, February 22nd. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal, and this is what's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help expl explain what's happening in our world. And this week, do foreign governments need American tech? Last month, France ordered government workers to stop using teams, Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, and WebEx, claiming that their proliferation had made France dependent on non European actors. And instead, government workers were to use a homegrown communication tool developed by the French state. The move is just the latest example of a growing tech sovereignty trend as countries seek to build their own digital technologies from communications platforms to AI systems, cloud networks, or even chips, and reduce their dependence on the US Private sector. Coming up, we'll speak to the man leading France's digital sovereignty push and talk to Journal tech reporter Sam Schechner about what it could all mean for Silicon Valley. Let's get right to it. Well, the French state may be eager to cut the cord on Silicon Valley, but will digital sovereignty actually become more than a slogan? And what's at stake here for U.S. tech? Journal Tech reporter Sam Scheckner joins me now. Sam, set the scene for us. What is digital sovereignty and why is everyone in Europe these days talking about it?

[Sam Schechner]

Well, something does seem different in the air right now, certainly after the dust up that maybe isn't quite over around Greenland. And in general, since the arrival of President Trump, I think leaders in Europe have really started to question this transatlantic relationship, which, while at times tense, has always been friendly enough to say, when push comes to shove, we can rely on their tech. And now in recent weeks, you start to hear more seriously this conversation of like, well, what would we do if our tech was cut off, if we no longer had access to our email or to our cloud storage or to all of these things that American companies provide in Europe?

[Luke Vargas]

I mean, is there actually any risk of that?

[Sam Schechner]

Well, the thing that these countries are confronting is that it is a very, very big lift to separate from US Tech. The dependency is just so enormous, not just in Europe, but throughout the Western world, that we're talking a project of decades, not something that you can do over the course of a few months. And so an announcement like what France has done with New Video conferencing software, or they have a kind of Google Docs replacement. I mean, those are achievable things, right? To get your government, you know, bureaucrats and other ministries working on a homegrown solution. And it's probably smart because if stuff did get cut off, you really don't want your government to be totally without any solutions. And if you look at the market share just for cloud services, cloud infrastructure in Europe, you know, big data centers, what you have is the top five American providers have something like 83% market share, according to IDC. That's something that's going to take a long time to shift.

[Luke Vargas]

I mean, situate for us what we believe the vibe to be in Silicon Valley responding to all this.

[Sam Schechner]

I mean, I think they take it super seriously. Europe represents, for these big companies upwards of a quarter of their revenue. I mean, it's no joke. It would be a bloodbath if they were cut off somehow from Europe. And this has been the case for quite some time. So they take it very seriously and that's why they invest so heavily in Europe. So much infrastructure, so much staff. Let's open an AI lab in Paris. Google's AI efforts are headquartered out of London. So in that sense the dependency does go both ways.

[Luke Vargas]

SAM this tech decoupling is being led by governments like France to develop sovereign tech systems. But surely this also requires a strong private tech sector if there's any hope of rivaling the U.S. the government is

[Sam Schechner]

not going to build a tech ecosystem, whether they're buying a video conferencing thing for government workers or not. It's, we're talking about technologies that are being built in the private sector. And so the whole, that's the whole game, right? Can Europe build and sustain a vibrant tech ecosystem on its own? And for technologies that already exist, like cloud services, that's something that's been won by the US but is still important for Europe to catch up in. They don't need new technologies, they just need heavy investment to try to build something that could match the cost of servers run by big American companies for the next tech revolution. There are very vibrant tech ecosystems here and there's a lot of startups. And when it comes to AI, I mean, one of the most recognized labs is actually a French lab. Mistral and Chinese labs have shown you don't necessarily need all the resources. There's definitely an open field that AI provides that may give Europe an ability to leapfrog into this tech race. And so I certainly wouldn't count Europe out of the tech race entirely.

[Luke Vargas]

I've been speaking to Wall Street Journal tech reporter Sam Schechner. We've got to take a short break, but when we come back, we'll take a closer look at what digital sovereignty looks like for the man leading the charge in France. Stay with us.

[Morningstar/Oppenheimer Announcer]

What's driving the markets this week? What's on investors minds as they look ahead? Find out on the Markets podcast from Goldman Sachs, a breakdown of market moves and macro signals in 10 minutes. Or the Markets podcast from Goldman Sachs. Listen.

[Sam Schechner]

Now.

[Luke Vargas]

Let's ditch the jargon and answer the question simply what does sovereign tech really look like? Well, who better to ask than David Amiel, France's Minister for State Reform, who is on the line with us from Paris. David, David, define in your words how France and you see tech sovereignty. What does that mean?

[David Amiel]

Well, France has been pushing for strategic autonomy at the European level for a long time and in the world we live in, there is no strategic autonomy without tech sovereignty. It means three things. First, it means avoiding critical dependencies and we need to strengthen our resilience in an unstable world on some specific parts of the tech sector. Second, we must ensure compliance with our values in order to preserve our democratic framework, in order to ensure consumer protection. The digital space is not the Wild west as President Emmanuel Le Macron often says. We must protect the health of our children. We must keep on fighting against racism, hate speeches, anti Semitism in social network and that is in line with the European regulation. And third, we must support European innovation, particularly for instance in cloud computing, in artificial intelligence, in data management, because this would be the key pillars of competitiveness in the future, just in terms of

[Luke Vargas]

critical dependency and steps to reduce it. Tell me about the push to to shift government workers away from US video conferencing platforms and how that fits into the wider strategy.

[David Amiel]

So we need to rely on solutions we can master so we avoid service interruptions. So in a way to ensure our resilience, we put forward a solution that was designed both by research and development made by the French state, but also by French private companies. That's called Visio and it incorporates the state of the art video conferencing. And that's very important because if you don't provide public agents with state of the art solutions, there will be no adoption and history is full of state led projects that led to nowhere because of that. So it's very important for us to really rely on the strengths and innovation of the private sector. So our solution will be hosted by Outscale. It comes From DESO System, there will be AI powered meeting transcription using speaker separation technologies that is provided by Pianote, a French startup. And that will also do a lot to facilitate the daily workings of French public agents.

[Luke Vargas]

So what's next here? Is the French government going to back more tools and are you going to try and convince the private sector to adopt this software?

[David Amiel]

Well, you know, when you don't master a solution, you cannot ensure that it will be resilient in any state of the world, because there can be many, many crises in the years to come. We have witnessed some in the recent years. Think of COVID think of the war in Ukraine and so on. More specifically, it's really an issue of resilience on some things that are really related to the core functioning of the state.

[Luke Vargas]

I see that you wrote last year that in responding to President Trump's economic policies, confrontation in the digital field may be inevitable. You also said that Europe was becoming less frightened of wielding power when it comes to taking its technological future into its hands. But how much less frightened, specifically, what if the state steps you're taking get the attention of the White House and provoke US anger?

[David Amiel]

You know, the sovereignty agenda, the strategic autonomy that we've been pushing is not new. France has been calling for a long time for more strategic autonomy of Europe. It has really been at the heart of what President Macron has been pushing for since his first election in 2017. And it was true also under other American administrations. I believe that in an unstable world, it's very important that Europe asserts itself as a geopolitical power. And that is, I believe, good for everyone, and it's good for the US but it's good for the world economy as well, because the more European is an engine for world growth, the more I think it will benefit everybody.

[Luke Vargas]

I mean, this is still early days, but I'm curious what you've learned about that effort so far, what it's going to take for France if it wants to rival US Tech competition and cultivate its domestic industry.

[David Amiel]

Well, I believe also that we have to learn what works behind Europe and especially in the U.S. when you look at what the U.S. has been really good at, there is no doubt that innovation is at the core of it. And when you look at the way the the US has engineered a public and private partnership, the key role that has been played in the US by major universities and research centers, that's also something that Europe, at the European level, because it's a relevant scale to act, I believe, on this innovation agenda, has

[Luke Vargas]

to learn from The US President has also been very forceful in basically going out there and soliciting orders, for example, for Boeing planes as a part of trade deals around the world. Are we learning that that's kind of something that's necessary here? You've got to basically help your companies compete at the head of state level?

[David Amiel]

No, as you know, we don't believe in protectionism. I think that innovation also flourishes on trade, on exchange of ideas and so on. And that is really something that at the heart also of the European economy to provide for this stable, open, predictive framework. And when you look at the comparative advantage of, of the European and of the French economy, I believe that's part of it.

[Luke Vargas]

Finally, when you look across the French tech landscape, startups and slightly larger businesses that already exist, do you think already there is a company out there that will grow and become a global competitor to some of the big US Firms that we've talked about earlier, or is that missing the point?

[David Amiel]

Definitely, I believe that European should aim at creating European champions in tech. France is now the most attractive country in Europe for foreign investment. So the next frontier is really scaling up through supporting innovation, easing access to capital, streamlining certain regulations and so on.

[Luke Vargas]

David Amiens is France's Minister for State Reform. Minister, thank you so much for being with us on what's News.

[David Amiel]

Thank you very much.

[Luke Vargas]

And that's it for what's news for February 22nd. Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hattie Moyer with supervising producers Sandra Kilhoff and Melanie Roy. I'm Luke Vargas and we'll be back tomorrow morning with a brand new show. Till then, thanks for listening.

[Morningstar/Oppenheimer Announcer]

At Oppenheimer, we're proven because we're grounded in discipline. For 145 years, we've been building and protecting wealth through every market cycle with precision, clarity and the courage to think boldly beyond the moment. This is what market tested legacy looks like for this generation and the next. Put the power of Oppenheimer thinking to work for you. Wealth management, capital markets, investment banking.