Europe Risks Economic Vulnerability Over AI Dependence

European policymakers are sounding the alarm over the region's dependence on imported artificial intelligence systems. According to ECB President Christine Lagarde, relying too heavily on AI from the US exposes European companies and institutions to potential disruptions or unfavorable commercial terms.

Lagarde warns that any withdrawal of access or change in access terms would have far-reaching consequences across public services, transport, healthcare, and finance. She points out that Europe's data centre capacity gap is projected to grow more than sixfold within a decade if current trends continue.

The ECB chief calls for Europe to become a producer of AI technology rather than just a buyer of systems developed overseas. Lagarde believes that building more European computing capacity would reduce the risk of being cut off and create AI models that are good enough for most tasks, running on European infrastructure instead.