Palantir’s head of the U.K. and Europe, Louis Mosley, has warned that European businesses and governments risk falling behind the United States in artificial intelligence in much the same way the region failed to capture the internet economy. His comments, reported by CoinDesk, frame Palantir as both a technology company at the center of the debate and a target of growing political opposition.
Europe’s cautious approach to AI
Mosley said the United States turned the internet into a foundation for a broad group of successful businesses and built much of the digital economy around it. Europe, by contrast, “missed the boat,” he argued. In his view, the gap between the two economies has widened significantly over the past two decades.
He said the U.S. and Europe were broadly comparable about 20 years ago in areas including GDP per capita, capital-market depth and the size of their largest companies. Since then, the U.S. has compounded growth while Europe has advanced much more slowly in comparison.
Earlier technology cycles produced major European companies, Mosley said, but the internet era created few equivalents. He identified ASML as a rare exception and said the company’s position illustrates where much of the value now lies: technology.
Mosley believes artificial intelligence could have an even greater economic impact than the internet. Yet he said European companies remain reluctant to commit, often taking a wait-and-see approach because the technology is new and may appear risky. That caution, he warned, could leave the region repeating its earlier failure to build leading businesses around a major technological shift.
Why Palantir sees itself as an AI indicator
Palantir develops software that provides what it describes as an ontology and governance framework for organizations using large language models and AI agents. The systems can be used in areas such as healthcare, industry and defense.
The company’s platform is model-agnostic. That means customers can use models from providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google’s Gemini and Grok, as well as open-weight models and Chinese systems. Customers can also fine-tune those models using their own data.
Mosley described Palantir as “the purest proxy on public markets for the rate of AI adoption in an economy.” He pointed to strong growth in the company’s U.S. commercial revenue as evidence of faster adoption there, while saying European companies have remained more hesitant.
Palantir has around 1,000 customers, according to Mosley, a relatively small number compared with the wider population of complex organizations in allied countries that could potentially use its software. He said this leaves the company in an early stage of its expansion, although no forecast was provided.
The comparison is important because Palantir’s business depends on organizations putting AI into operational use rather than merely experimenting with the technology. Its software is intended to help businesses and public agencies connect data, apply AI models and manage how those systems are used.
Political criticism and public-sector use
Palantir’s work has also made it a focus of political opposition in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe. Its contracts and relationships include defense and law-enforcement work, including surveillance software provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration and targeting systems supplied to the Israel Defense Forces.
Campaigners have also objected on ethical grounds to the company’s involvement in systems used by public services, including the U.K.’s National Health Service. Mosley said the strongest political reactions tend to focus on Gaza, Trump and Palantir’s contracts in the United States, Israel and with the NHS.
He argued that this controversy can divert attention from questions about how AI might improve domestic services. As an example, he asked whether a politician would tell a constituent to wait longer for a hip operation because a supplier also has unrelated foreign contracts.
Mosley also acknowledged that AI will disrupt jobs. At the same time, he said the technology could reduce administrative work for nurses and police officers, potentially allowing them to spend more time on core duties and improving productivity.
He identified political communication as the biggest risk to AI’s progress. In his view, governments and politicians have not adequately explained how the technology could benefit people, while opposition has often focused on its risks and controversies.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data at 2026-10-13 09:34 +03:30 shows mixed performance among the listed digital assets:
- JUST (JST) was priced at $0.1385879907, up 0.71% over 24 hours but down 0.24% over seven days.
- Polygon (prev. MATIC) (POL) stood at $0.1044523213, down 1.16% in 24 hours and 4.27% over seven days.
- Lighter (LIT) traded at $3.369724976, down 11.22% over 24 hours and 14.03% over seven days.
These figures provide a snapshot of selected crypto-market movements and are separate from Palantir’s enterprise AI business. Mosley’s broader argument is that the pace at which organizations adopt AI—and the political environment surrounding that adoption—could shape how much economic value Europe captures from the next technology cycle.
