Europe is no longer an incubator for technology.

It is a toll booth for American ingenuity.

Google now has a dedicated line item in its quarterly reports for "European Commission fines."

As of September 30th, that number hit $10.5 billion.

Think about the psychological shift that represents: regulatory penalties have become so frequent and massive that they are now just a standard operating expense, like rent or payroll.

While the US and China spend billions on R&D for the next generation of AI, the EU is spending its energy on a fine-based business model.

They aren’t regulating to protect consumers; they are regulating to capture revenue from a game they’ve already lost.

When fines become "normal," innovation has already left the building.