Chinese AI Models Narrow the Gap, Apps Become the Moat, SaaS Faces Repricing

Models are converging. Chinese open source models are catching up. Applications are becoming the moat.In this episode of This Week in European Tech, Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen of SuperSeed examine the shifts shaping AI, markets and Europe’s role.From DeepSeek’s progress to the EU AI Act, the focus is on where the real competitive edge is forming, alongside cyber incidents, the race between frontier labs, and why coding is central to how AI systems improve and are used, before closing on pressure in private credit and what it could mean for SaaS.Key highlightsChinese open-source AI is rapidly closing the gap with US leadersThe EU is considering revisions to its AI Act, including scope and timeline changesCyber incidents reveal systemic data management failuresFrontier labs are moving up the stack into applications, with coding central to progressPrivate credit exposure to SaaS could lead to repricingTimestamps(00:00) Intro and overview of key topics(05:45) DeepSeek V4 and model competition(11:30) EU AI Act discussions(16:45) Cyber breaches and data governance issues(21:30) Digital ID systems and Estonia’s model(26:30) Sergey Brin, DeepMind and AI coding race(32:00) SpaceX, Cursor and AI distribution strategy(39:30) Private credit, space sovereignty, predictions and week aheadSubscribe to EUVC, the home of European tech, for more insights: ⁠https://www.eu.vc/subscribe