Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), told The Guardian that Europe must develop its own artificial intelligence technologies and build more data centers. According to Lagarde, doing so would reduce the risk that the United States or China could cut off or restrict European access to these technologies.
She said Europe needs AI models that are "good enough" to perform most tasks and that can be run in European data centers. Lagarde emphasized that as AI systems become more widely used, control over and access to them will become a strategic issue.
Why this matters, according to Lagarde
Lagarde listed areas where she expects AI to play a central role within a few years: controlling goods at borders, deciding which tax returns to audit, managing train traffic, monitoring patients in hospital wards, and processing bank payments. "Removing access or changing its conditions would affect all economic sectors at once," she said.
She argued that control over AI access would create a bargaining position for Europe that no trading partner has had before, and that this leverage could be used in negotiations on matters such as tariffs or digital taxes.
Related voices and reactions
The article also references Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who recently wrote an essay urging companies developing AI models to slow the pace of capability improvements in light of growing concerns about AI. The report notes that U.S. President Donald Trump responded to that debate by saying that an "strong and high-IQ" president such as himself is needed to keep AI in check.
Implications
Lagarde's remarks underline that control over AI infrastructure and data in Europe is not only a technological matter but also a geopolitical and economic strategy. Expanding European AI development and local data hosting could shape the continent's future competitiveness and its negotiating position on the international stage.
