Key facts
- Salla called the Starshield speed cap "yet another example of a kill switch" that she said led directly to battlefield deaths.
- Salla said Europe needs frontier AI models to have "any room in these negotiations" on AI development and safety.
- Salla called for harmonized EU insolvency and tax rules and cross-border pension-fund investment to fund frontier firms.
- Salla cited Danish pension funds financing weapons development in Romania as an example of cross-border capital.
- French frontier lab Mistral has warned Europe will be shut out of shaping AI without a developer of the most advanced models.
Finnish EPP lawmaker Aura Salla told an audience at the European Pulse Seminar in Brussels on November 5, 2026, that Europe should stop relying on US technology, and said a speed cap imposed on SpaceX's military Starshield service in Ukraine in October led directly to deaths on the battlefield.
"Stop using U.S. tech. That's my message," Salla said at the seminar, according to POLITICO. In an interview with POLITICO, she described the Starshield speed cap as "yet another example of a kill switch" and said: "We are losing lives in Ukraine. It's about our defense, because defense is technology."
Salla's remarks pushed back on Brussels' emphasis on adopting AI rather than building frontier models in Europe. In her September 16 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "We do not need to be the ones who develop the frontier technology to be the ones who draw the greatest value from it."
Salla argued Europe needs frontier models to have "any room in these negotiations" over the direction of AI development and safety. French frontier lab Mistral has likewise warned that Europe will be shut out of shaping AI without a player leading development of the most advanced models, POLITICO reported.
Salla said building frontier firms also requires capital and a more integrated market. She called for harmonized insolvency and tax rules and cross-border pension-fund investment, citing Danish funds financing weapons development in Romania as an example.