Europe and AI: it’s not too late, but we must decide what we want

• Microsoft has introduced a new agentic security system called Perception and its first cyber-focused generative AI model, MAI-Cyber-1-Flash. • MAI-Cyber-1-Flash is based on the internal MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model and is specifically designed for cybersecurity tasks, such as software vulnerability analysis.

• Europe is facing an annual economic loss of over €50 billion due to the ongoing degradation of its soils. • Leading scientists have proposed the integration of AI-driven tools to transform how soil health is monitored and managed across the continent.

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for STEM Education has announced the first set of awards for the CyberAICorps Scholarship for Service (CyberAI SFS) program. • The initiative focuses on training students to use AI for enhancing cybersecurity operations, specifically in areas such as digital forensics, incident response, and threat detection.

• Seed-stage startups operating at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity have raised $855 million across more than 150 funding rounds so far this year, according to Crunchbase. • Notable investments include $60 million for identity intelligence developer Oak, $45 million for AI-native platform Cylake in March, and $34 million for AI governance startup JetStream Security.

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella asserts that the United States will maintain its competitive edge in AI despite the availability of cheaper Chinese models. • Nadella attributes this resilience to the "rich ecosystem" the U.S. has developed, arguing that trust in American technology will outweigh lower costs.

• AWS experienced a glitch in its Cost Management Console where incorrect unit pricing caused billing estimates to erroneously reach trillions of dollars. • While the projected charges were extreme, actual usage and invoices remained unaffected, and no customers were overcharged.

• Microsoft has unveiled new A.I.-powered cybersecurity tools designed to protect organizations from increasingly sophisticated digital threats. • Mustafa Suleyman, who leads Microsoft’s A.I. development, is spearheading the initiative to integrate advanced A.I. capabilities into the company's security suite.

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella warned that companies relying on a single AI model for all operations risk their long-term survival. • He emphasized the necessity of owning proprietary models or implementing "AI gateways" to decouple user prompts from the underlying model infrastructure.

• The European Union is shifting its approach to artificial intelligence, moving beyond digital regulatory policy to treat AI as a critical strategic priority. • Despite producing world-class research and talent, the EU lacks the computing infrastructure and growth-stage capital necessary to compete with non-European frontier AI development.

• Stockholm and New York-based edtech company imagi raised €10.2 million in a seed funding round on July 21, 2026. • The round was led by KT Ventures and Valemount Capital, with additional support from Futury Capital and various private industrial family offices.

• DeepSeek raised ¥50B and NEURA Robotics secured $1.4B in funding, highlighting the flow of capital into AI and robotics. • Ramp closed a $750M funding round, demonstrating the large scale of investments in key sectors like infrastructure.

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has launched the Open Secure AI Alliance in response to an OpenAI testing incident that raised concerns about AI cybersecurity. • The alliance includes over 35 major tech companies, such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, aiming to address AI security issues.