The Bunker – News without the nonsense Old Man Shouts at Cloud – Could Trump turn off Europe’s internet?
Aug 13, 2025
Kieron O’Hara, a computer scientist and philosopher known for co-authoring *Four Internets*, discusses the precarious relationship between Europe's reliance on American cloud services and political maneuvering. He delves into a hypothetical scenario where a former U.S. president might turn off digital access to Europe. The conversation explores the dominance of tech giants like Google and Amazon, the implications for data sovereignty, and the urgent need for Europe to develop its own tech capabilities to avoid digital ransom.
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Concentrated Cloud Dependence
- Three US firms (Google, Amazon, Microsoft) control roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of Europe's cloud market, creating concentrated dependence.
- European cloud providers likely make up under 5%, leaving a major strategic vulnerability.
Why Cloud Became Indispensable
- Cloud enables large organisations to process and monetise huge volumes of data they couldn't handle locally.
- Amazon turned excess internal computing capacity into a rentable service, kickstarting the modern cloud industry.
UK's Cloud-First Transformation
- Kieron describes Britain's cloud-first policy driven under Cameron's government to modernise incompatible government data silos.
- He recalls an advisor telling civil servants they should use Amazon services rather than build their own infrastructure.
