On a visit to the United States, Prime Minister Luc Frieden has met with leading tech companies to discuss cooperation in AI, data processing and innovation, reaffirming Luxembourg's ambition to remain a key European tech hub.

Prime Minister Luc Frieden is in the United States this week, where he has been holding a series of meetings with leading technology companies in California. His discussions have centered on key areas such as data processing and artificial intelligence.

On Monday, Frieden met with Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy and representatives from Microsoft. On Wednesday, he held talks with executives from Nvidia, the world's leading chip manufacturer, and was later scheduled to meet with Google.

In a short audio message, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of maintaining close relationships with major tech firms to ensure that Luxembourg continues to benefit from the latest technological developments.

"We need to stand on our own feet in Europe, but the Americans have a technological advantage. That's why we need them as partners", Frieden said.
 
Amazon remains one of Luxembourg's largest employers. During the meeting, Andy Jassy confirmed that the Grand Duchy continues to play a central role in the company's European operations.

It is not yet clear whether Amazon's global restructuring will affect jobs in Luxembourg. In October, the US tech giant announced plans to cut 14,000 positions worldwide as part of cost-saving measures.

Frieden's meeting with Google was expected to include discussions on the long-debated data centre project in Luxembourg. Although Google has expressed interest in establishing such a facility for several years, no construction has yet begun.

Since early 2024, Google has operated an office on Boulevard Royal in Luxembourg City, primarily employing cloud technology specialists.

While in San Francisco, Frieden embraced himself in some innovative technology, that is growing in America, namely self-driving cars. He also stated that Luxembourg is "authorizing autonomous vehicles and supporting innovation, the country aims to become a European testbed for connected mobility". In September this year, CFL launched two self-driving shuttles in Belval which could be the catalyst to the driverless revolution in the Grand Duchy.