Beyond the Valuation: AI, Cognitive Power and Europe’s Missing Ambition – Omnibus La7
During my appearance on Omnibus on La7, hosted by Frediano Finucci, we discussed the extraordinary valuations of companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX.
But the real issue is not the number itself. The real issue is what these companies represent: new infrastructures of power, knowledge, productivity, and human development.
Watch the full program here.
Key Takeaways
- AI companies are becoming strategic infrastructures.
- Their value reflects future power, not only current revenues.
- AI is now a geopolitical asset.
- Europe risks cognitive dependence.
- The real asset is the ecosystem: talent, data, chips, energy and distribution.
- AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it.
- The future belongs to those who best combine human intelligence and AI.
When discussing the valuation of companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI or SpaceX, it is easy to become distracted by the numbers. Hundreds of billions of dollars appear almost unreal. Some observers see irrational exuberance. Others see a speculative bubble.
Both views capture part of the story. But they miss the most important point.
These companies are valued not only for what they produce today. They are being valued because investors increasingly perceive them as the infrastructure of the twenty-first century.
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In the twentieth century, economic and geopolitical power was built around railways, electricity, oil, telecommunications and transportation networks. Today, power is increasingly concentrated around data, computing capacity, energy, satellite networks and artificial intelligence.
This is why the debate should not focus only on financial valuations. It should focus on the strategic role these companies may play in shaping the future economy.
Artificial intelligence is no longer simply another technology sector. It is becoming a general-purpose infrastructure capable of influencing education, healthcare, scientific research, business productivity, defence and public administration.
The most interesting aspect is that the real asset is not the algorithm alone.
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The true value lies in the combination of talent, computing power, energy availability, data, infrastructure and distribution. Building a leading AI company is no longer just a software challenge. It requires an entire ecosystem capable of attracting capital, researchers and entrepreneurs at global scale.
This leads directly to a second question: where is Europe?
The United States hosts most of the world’s leading AI companies. China is investing aggressively to build its own champions. Europe, meanwhile, often appears more comfortable regulating technological revolutions than creating them.
This is not merely an economic issue. It is increasingly a geopolitical one.
For decades, Europe worried about energy dependence. Today, it should be equally concerned about cognitive dependence.
Students, professionals, businesses and institutions increasingly rely on technologies developed elsewhere to access information, generate content, conduct research and improve productivity. This does not mean these technologies are harmful. It means that Europe risks becoming a consumer rather than a creator of the infrastructures that will shape future knowledge and innovation.
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However, focusing only on risks would be a mistake.
Artificial intelligence is also one of the most powerful tools ever developed to augment human capabilities.
Too often the public debate is framed around a false choice: humans versus machines.
The real future is humans with machines.
I increasingly see AI not as a substitute for human intelligence but as a cognitive extension of it. A kind of bionic layer capable of expanding memory, accelerating learning, supporting creativity and enhancing decision-making.
This leads to a simple but important observation.
Those who do not use their brains critically will not use AI effectively.
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Those who cultivate curiosity, judgment, creativity and critical thinking can transform AI into a genuinely bionic capability.
The value of artificial intelligence ultimately does not lie in replacing human intelligence. It lies in amplifying it.
For this reason, the most important question is not whether AI will become more powerful.
The most important question is whether we will create a future in which these technologies empower billions of individuals, or one in which cognitive power becomes concentrated in the hands of a few organisations.
Why It Matters
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of everyday life, from education and healthcare to business and public administration.
Understanding AI as both an opportunity and a source of concentration of power is essential if societies want to preserve innovation, competition and individual freedom.
Final Thought
The debate should not focus on whether AI is good or bad.
The real challenge is ensuring that human intelligence remains at the centre of a future increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
The future will not belong to those who simply have access to artificial intelligence. It will belong to those who learn how to combine human intelligence and artificial intelligence better than anyone else.
