Europe must build own AI, says ECB's Lagarde (www.theguardian.com)

Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, emphasized the urgent need for Europe to develop its own artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and increase its data center capacity in a recent address. She highlighted the risk of Europe becoming overly reliant on the US and China, noting that these countries produced 59 and 35 significant AI models last year, respectively, compared to just one each from France and the UK. With the US currently hosting 75% of global AI computing power, Europe’s lack of self-sufficiency poses a serious threat to its economic autonomy and ability to harness AI’s transformative potential, which could boost productivity by up to 4% over the next decade. Lagarde argued that without domestic AI models capable of performing essential tasks, Europe faces a precarious choice: either delay AI adoption due to data protection concerns or rush towards dependence on external entities, risking loss of economic sovereignty. She cautioned that failures in AI access could have immediate ramifications across numerous sectors, influencing everything from border security to financial transactions. Lagarde’s call to action underscores how the geopolitical landscape is directly intertwined with technological capability, and that investment in indigenous AI infrastructure is crucial for Europe’s economic resilience and strategic independence.