Lagarde: Europe Must Develop Its Own Artificial Intelligence

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, stated in a statement made in Vienna that Europe needs to develop its own artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Lagarde expressed that the continent's current dependence on the US and China could pose a significant challenge for Europe in trade negotiations.

Lagarde stressed that Europe needs to invest in sufficient AI models and local data centers. She noted that the US produced 59 significant AI models last year, while China produced 35, whereas Europe was limited to just one model each from France and the United Kingdom. She also highlighted that 75% of the world's AI computing capacity is located in the US, and Europe only accounts for 5% of this capacity.

Lagarde stated that Europe must quickly adopt AI; otherwise, it will be unable to protect data security and will lose growth opportunities. She indicated that if Europe makes a rapid transition to AI technologies, it could increase productivity by 4% in various sectors of the economy, which would be revolutionary for public financing.

Regarding the current state of AI in Europe, Lagarde said, "We must accelerate the establishment of data centers; we have insufficient capacity to meet current demand, and this situation could increase sixfold within a decade." She expressed that the investments of large US technology firms in Europe put other investors in a difficult position and could lead to negative effects in the markets. Lagarde emphasized that Europe needs to take urgent measures in this regard and reiterated the importance of creating an independent AI ecosystem.