Yes there is. I've lived in both the EU and the US for decades. The American lifestyle sucks. Don't underestimate that.

Didn't the mistral founders work in the US and move back precisely to found a company in france?

EU is much cheaper, that is a good reason, you can still sell in USA even if you develop the AI in Europe. Deepmind still operators from Europe.

People are currently lobbying in the US to set up much worse legislation.