AI Robots Take Over European Parliament as EU Races to Become Robotics Superpower

Live Demonstrations Highlight European Robotics Capabilities

During the live showcase at the European Parliament, four human-assistance robots designed by research institutes including France’s INRIA and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) cleared a breakfast table in 10 minutes, according to reporting by Agence France-Presse. One robot tidied cupboards and wiped surfaces, while others placed orange juice and milk in the fridge, discarded empty packaging, and loaded the dishwasher. The machines moved deliberately rather than quickly. According to INRIA’s Serena Ivaldi, that pace is intentional because the robots have to act in human environments without startling the people they help, prioritizing precision over speed. Nearby, a multi-jointed robotic arm developed by France’s CEA research agency dismantled an electric battery model to demonstrate recycling capabilities. Meanwhile, KYON, a quadruped robot developed by the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), made its public debut by bending its legs to pick up a parcel and deliver it to a human. ETH Zurich’s Transformer robot also demonstrated its mobility, shifting from four legs to two legs without losing balance and climbing stairs with ease.

Funding Gaps and Global Competition

Despite possessing strong research institutes and start-ups, European researchers note that the bloc lags behind global competitors due to capital shortages. According to Portuguese robotics researcher Pedro Lima, Europe has generated much of the underlying science and research that enabled successful ventures in China and the United States, but lacks political will and funding. Alin Albu-Schaeffer, coordinator of the EU-funded euROBin network which organized the parliament event, stated that the vision is for Europe to build a major robotic industry branch matching the size and importance of the current automotive industry within a decade, capturing one-third of the global intelligent robotics market. That target faces steep hurdles given the scale of foreign investment. China has heavily funded humanoid robots, recently staging a technological showcase at the World Robot Games in Beijing where a machine broke Usain Bolt’s 100-metre dash record.

European Lawmakers Urge Action on Technological Sovereignty

EU lawmaker Axel Voss, a proponent of Europe’s technological sovereignty, cautioned that the continent invents technologies but is too slow to turn them into global companies. Voss stated that the United States and China are scaling faster while capital flows elsewhere, leaving Europe facing a choice between watching the next industrial revolution happen elsewhere or shaping it.