Lagarde Warns Europe Must Develop Own AI Ecosystem

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has urged Europe to accelerate its development of artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity and reduce dependence on the US. In a recent speech, Lagarde emphasized that AI adoption could raise productivity by up to 4% over a ten-year horizon.

According to her calculations, this increase in productivity could cover about a third of the cost of strategic investments that Europe must undertake. However, Lagarde warned that merely importing AI technology from the US is not enough, and that Europe needs to develop its own infrastructure and models to avoid becoming too dependent on external suppliers.

Lagarde pointed out that relying heavily on US-based companies could lead to significant vulnerabilities in data management, as almost half of the companies that have chosen not to adopt AI cite distrust in data protection as a reason. Additionally, access to AI models can be restricted at any time by their creators, generating potential disruptions in essential infrastructures.

Lagarde highlighted the example of European company Multiverse Computing, which has developed its own family of models capable of addressing most of the tasks demanded by companies and administrations. She also praised the work of French company Mistral, which has launched its latest generation of models with open weights.