Von der Leyen urges EU OEMs to lead in AI-driven vehicles

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has urged a continent-wide push to make Europe a leader in software-defined and autonomous vehicles (SDVs and AVs), calling for an “AI-first” approach across multiple key industries but singling out transportation as a critical test grounds for the bloc’s competitiveness. Speaking at the Italian Tech Week event in Turin, she suggested that aggressive push on AI could reverse the struggles faced by many of the continent’s automakers, while also boosting road safety.