Europe is 'dangerously' reliant on Starlink and US AI, French CEO warns

Bouygues Chief Executive Officer Olivier Roussat has a simple message for Brussels, and he delivered it bluntly on CNBC Thursday morning stating that Europe is sleepwalking into a dependency it cannot afford.

The CEO of Bouygues one of France's largest engineering and telecoms conglomerates warned that the continent's growing reliance on American-controlled satellite and artificial intelligence infrastructure represents a threat most European policymakers haven't fully confronted.

"Europe doesn't realize exactly how dangerous it is to just rely on the American infrastructure," Roussat told CNBC's Squawk Box Europe. The two areas of most acute concern, he said, are AI and satellites and the window to act independently is closing.

Starlink operated by Elon Musk has already deployed an orbital constellation of roughly 10,000 satellites, giving it by far the greatest share in global satellite Internet services. Its parent firm SpaceX is set to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in one of the biggest IPOs in recent years.

The threat Roussat warns against is not theoretical. He mentioned that Europe was susceptible to the actions of a non-governmental entity such as a privately owned company controlled by a lone individual.

"It's not sure that we absolutely need to get a Starlink or something like this," he said, arguing instead that Europe needs its own solution "to get some sovereignty."

Musk's involvement in European political discourse has deepened over the past year, making the question of infrastructure dependency more than a technical one.

This time Roussat not only gives warnings; Bouygues takes care of implementing them at home. Indeed, Bouygues made a cash offer to buy the largest stake in SFR, the second largest telecom company in France, in collaboration with Free–iliad Group and Orange.

This acquisition deal would cost $20.35 billion, which would become the biggest telecom deal in Europe in recent history. According to the plan, Bouygues Telecom would buy 42 percent of SFR shares.