Europe's €2 billion sovereign cloud push undermined by reliance on US-made processors

Summary

Europe is investing over €2 billion in sovereign cloud initiatives (IPCEI-CIS, SecNumCloud) to reduce reliance on US tech companies and escape extraterritorial US laws. However, these efforts are undermined because most European cloud datacenters and qualified operators still depend on Intel and AMD processors, which contain hidden low-level subsystems like Intel ME and AMD PSP that operate outside user control and certification. This creates a fundamental contradiction: digital sovereignty cannot be achieved when the foundational silicon layer remains under US jurisdiction and contains unverified, privileged access mechanisms.