Cover photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash.

Speaking in Vienna on Monday, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde had a firm message: Europe needs to get in on the AI race, or risk having its dependency on foreign tech weaponized against it (Source: ECB). It's a stark message, but one that rings true in today's increasingly combative international arena.

Of course, Artificial Intelligence is a very broad term, and Lagarde was referring to building out the entire digital infrastructure that's required to support a technological revolution.

That's a big ask, and requires a concerted effort from governments, private companies and investors. But on a grassroots level, there's already things you can do to support European AI initiatives.

Photo by KOBU Agency on Unsplash.

Meet your European digital assistants

There's a good chance you've heard of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek and MetaAI. In fact, there's a good chance you've had at least one of these installed on your devices against your will.

But what about Lumo (Proton, Switzerland) and Mistral Vibe (Mistral AI, France)?

You might not have used them or even heard of them, but they're two free and effective LLM systems, created by European companies, that you can start using and supporting right now.

Photo by Aerps.com on Unsplash.

Harnessing European tech

Whether you're totally new to LLMs or a regular user, these two European alternatives offer many of the same benefits as their more well-known counterparts. I can't testify to how effective they are at coding and more advanced applications, but as advanced search assistants, writing coaches, and for fulfilling simple daily tasks, they fit the bill.

While both companies offer free plans and just using their features is a way of showing your support, you can also financially support these European tech companies by choosing a paid plan (I'm not getting paid to say that, I'm just stating the obvious!)

What's your European AI top tip?

In this short article I've mentioned two European LLMs that I've experimented with, and one of which (Lumo) I use on a fairly regular basis. But I'm sure there are more out there, and I would love to hear about them!

If you use a different European AI product, whether it's an LLM or something totally different, please be sure to let me know in the comments section below.