Intelligence Everywhere: Inside Europe’s Next Technology Era

Partner content ‘Partner Content’ is used to describe brand content that is paid for and controlled by the advertiser rather than the Euronews editorial team. This content is produced by commercial departments and does not involve Euronews editorial staff or news journalists. The funding partner has control of the topics, content and final approval in collaboration with Euronews’ commercial production department. Wassim Chourbaji, President, MEA & SVP Government Affairs EMEA, Qualcomm - Copyright Qualcomm 2026 • Updated: 05/10/2026 GMT+2 - 7:00 Partner Content presented by Qualcomm ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Intelligence is moving closer to where data is created. From smartphones and computers to glasses, cars and industrial devices, AI is becoming embedded across the technologies that shape everyday life. As AI expands beyond traditional computing environments, it is increasingly being delivered across devices and the cloud. "Our vision is intelligence everywhere," says Wassim Chourbaji, SVP and President Europe, Middle East and Africa, Qualcomm. “It’s where the data is created at the edge, but also in the data centre,” explains Wassim Chourbaji. “We call it hybrid AI, and it’s really an orchestration between intelligence at the edge and intelligence in the data centre.” Rooted in Europe For Qualcomm, this transformation builds on more than 35 years in Europe, with R&D centresacross France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Italy. “Our platforms combine connectivity, high-performance, low-power compute and AI,” says Chourbaji. These technologies are relevant to a wide range of industries, and Qualcomm partners with European industries including automotive, energy, robotics and industrial applications. “We like innovation. We like to drive partnerships, and you will see us very excited about the future and what we’re building in Europe.” Qualcomm’s approach also builds on academic collaboration and open innovation. Amira Alloum, Director of Engineering and R&D Europe, Qualcomm, highlights collaboration with institutions including the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano and the University of Manchester. These collaborations reflect a broader conviction at the heart of Qualcomm's approach where industry, academia and developers can build on each other's work. That philosophy also extends to open-source communities. A prime example is Arduino, the open-source electronics platform now under Qualcomm’s umbrella. Fabio Violante, VP & GM of Arduino, points to the platform’s 36.7 million development environment downloads last year as proof of the power of open communities. “Distributed innovation means having anybody contributing to some form of knowledge,” says Violante. “This is a massive democratisation, lowering the barrier to entry to technology. People who have a problem can now just assemble their solution with a few clicks.” Beyond Connectivity: The Role of 6G As intelligence spreads across devices and data centres, the networks that connect them must evolve as well. "6G is not just a new generation of connectivity," says Wassim Chourbaji. "It's connectivity, but also distributed computing and sensing." In Cork, Qualcomm’s teams are already working with new spectrum and conducting trials for 6G. “Everything is about bridging the gap between theory and reality,” explains Jarbas Pinheiro,Senior Engineer, QT Technologies Ireland Limited. “We invest a lot in research, simulations, prototypes and field trials.” One of 6G's most promising capabilities is “transforming the network itself into a platform that perceives the physical world in real time,” Alloum explains. By leveraging integrated sensing, the network can create live virtual replicas of physical environments, mapping vehicles, drones, pedestrians, and infrastructure in real time without relying on physical cameras or additional sensors. Defining Europe’s AI Future As AI becomes further embedded in daily life, localised implementation and data sovereignty are becoming increasingly important considerations. “I truly believe AI is local by nature,” Chourbaji says. “It understands our dialects, our thinking. So it has to be with the local culture.” This places Europe in a strong position to benefit from the transformation. “Europe is extremely well positioned in this transformation,” he says, pointing to the region’s industrial base, research capabilities and the need for robust AI and telecom infrastructure. The opportunity for Europe is not simply to adopt AI technologies, but to help shape their development and deployment. By combining infrastructure, industrial expertise, talent and open innovation, the region has many of the ingredients needed to play a leading role in the next phase of AI. Watch the full film above to explore how this transformation is taking shape across Europe. References to “Qualcomm” may mean Qualcomm Incorporated, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and/or other subsidiaries or business units within the Qualcomm corporate structure, as applicable. Partner content presented by ‘Partner Content presented by’ is used to describe brand content that is paid for and controlled by the advertiser rather than the Euronews editorial team. This content is produced by commercial departments and does not involve Euronews editorial staff or news journalists. The funding partner has control of the topics, content and final approval in collaboration with Euronews’ commercial production department.