Europe should not rely on US AI infrastructure and systems like Starlink due to a "dangerous" over-dependence. This was stated by Bouygues CEO Olivier Roussat in an interview with CNBC.

"There are two areas of the future that Europe needs to recognize the importance of: artificial intelligence and satellite communication," he emphasized.

Bouygues is one of France's largest engineering conglomerates, operating in construction, transportation, and telecommunications. The company aims to consolidate the telecommunications market in France.

"I’m not sure we necessarily need Starlink or anything like it. Europe needs something to gain some sovereignty," Roussat added.

According to him, a single non-state player could potentially disrupt internet connectivity across the entire continent.

Starlink — The Leader

SpaceX's Starlink dominates the global satellite internet market, managing a fleet of over 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, which is within 2,000 km of the Earth's surface.

Elon Musk's company plans to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, aiming for the largest IPO in history. It has filed a prospectus with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The document states that the company's communications division, primarily consisting of Starlink, generated $11.39 billion in revenue in 2025, accounting for 61% of total sales. By the first quarter of 2026, this figure rose to 69%.

Starlink is the only profitable segment of the space company, contributing $4.42 billion in profit over the year. In contrast, the rocket launch division, which includes contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense, reported a loss of $657 million.

The AI division is faring even worse financially, with a loss of $6.35 billion.

In the first quarter, Starlink's user base more than doubled compared to the previous year, reaching 10.3 million users.

SpaceX estimates its potential market at $28.5 trillion, which includes:

  • Broadband access — $870 billion;
  • Mobile division — $740 billion;
  • Digital advertising — $600 billion;
  • AI infrastructure — $2.4 trillion;
  • Corporate applications market — $22.7 trillion.

"We believe we are still in the early stages of transforming enterprises with artificial intelligence, and corporate AI applications are poised to reshape the digital economy," the SpaceX document states.

Competition Intensifies

In 2026, Starlink made its debut in Brand Finance's ranking of the top 500 brands. Meanwhile, competitors are closing in:

  • OneWeb, managed by French Eutelsat, operates a constellation of over 600 satellites;
  • Amazon has launched over 300 orbital devices in the past year and is nearing the release of its Leo service, which will eventually include a constellation of around 7,700 satellites;
  • Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin plans to deploy about 5,400 satellites starting in Q4 2027;
  • Chinese Guowang, currently operating around 163 satellites, aims to create a mega-constellation.

Data Centers in Space

In February, SpaceX acquired Musk's AI startup xAI, creating the world's most valuable private company. The entrepreneur stated that the goal of the merger is to establish data centers beyond Earth.

At that time, the combined company's valuation was estimated at $1.25 trillion, now reportedly at $1.75 trillion, with some media citing figures as high as $2 trillion.

To create data centers in space, SpaceX has requested permission from the US Federal Communications Commission to launch 1 million satellites.

The project envisions a network of data centers in low Earth orbit connected by laser channels, using bold language like "the first step towards a Type II civilization on the Kardashev scale."

Colonizing Mars and the Moon

Musk plans to colonize Mars, but this plan has been postponed in favor of building a city on the Moon. The construction is expected to take less than 10 years, according to the CEO of SpaceX.

The entrepreneur noted that travel to Mars is only feasible when the planets align, which occurs every 26 months, with the journey taking six months.

In contrast, trips to the Moon can happen every 10 days, with a travel time of two days, making it much faster to establish a city on Earth's satellite.

It is worth noting that in February, it was revealed that SpaceX is participating in a secret new Pentagon competition to create autonomous drone swarms with voice control.