European data centres will expand capacity by 22% this year and yet struggle to meet demand, raising the risk Europe will be left be further behind in the race for artificial intelligence (AI), industry analysts told a conference on Wednesday. China’s DeepSeek delivered a shock to markets last week by raising the prospect of more energy-efficient AI models.
That is unlikely to relieve Europe’s pressing issues of electric grid congestion and a shortage of suitable sites for new centres.
Large software companies, such as Google and Amazon, plan to…