AWS Executive Warns European Startups May Relocate Over Regulation

Tanuja Randery, Managing Director of Amazon Web Services for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, warned that European startups are considering relocating due to regulatory hurdles, funding shortages, and workforce skill gaps. Speaking at the Reuters Global Markets Forum, Randery cited an AWS survey showing that nearly 40% of European startups, and over half of the fastest-growing ones, would consider leaving the region to scale.

Randery noted that some businesses spend up to 40 cents of every euro on regulatory compliance rather than technology. She identified the European Union's AI Act, energy constraints, and a lack of homegrown frontier AI models as primary obstacles to the region's progress. This environment has left Europe dependent on U.S. firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

To address these challenges, Randery urged European businesses to prioritize investment in AI inference to better deploy models for real-world use. She emphasized that the region needs to accelerate its pace, arguing that progress and safety should coexist rather than be viewed as opposing goals.