Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), said that importing artificial intelligence primarily from abroad — notably the United States — represents an unprecedented risk for Europe. Speaking in Vienna, Lagarde called on European policymakers and companies to become AI producers themselves and to expand on-continent compute capacity, according to Reuters.
She noted that although European firms invest substantial sums in AI, they often obtain the actual technologies and models from overseas. That dependence could leave them vulnerable if access were restricted by American companies or other external providers.
Lagarde argued the exposure would affect virtually every sector of the economy. “Within a few years, artificial intelligence will be checking goods at borders, deciding which tax returns to examine, directing rail traffic, monitoring hospital patients and executing bank payments,” she said, using these examples to illustrate the consequences of a loss or restriction of access.
She added that such a situation could create an influence in trade negotiations — for example over tariffs or digital taxes — that no commercial partner has previously held over Europe.
Lagarde also referenced recent strains in the EU–US relationship: disputes in areas such as tariffs, and political and security tensions that have eroded trust. The Reuters account notes that critical remarks from figures including JD Vance have further complicated transatlantic ties.
As a remedy, Lagarde urged a rapid increase in computing capacity within Europe. Her calculations indicate that if Europe responds quickly and scales up its compute resources, productivity could rise by about 4 percent over a decade.
She further warned that Europe currently has too little data-center capacity and that, based on trends, this shortfall could grow to six times its current level over the next ten years. To address this, she said Europe needs models that are “fit for purpose” for most tasks and that can run on European infrastructure, thereby eliminating or greatly reducing AI exposure.
In sum, Lagarde’s message was that AI access is a strategic issue requiring coordinated European action: investments, infrastructure expansion and support for local models are necessary to reduce external dependence and protect the continent’s economic autonomy.
