European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has issued a stark warning that Europe's delayed embrace of artificial intelligence could severely compromise the continent's economic future and global competitiveness.
Europe's Critical AI Deficit
Speaking at a conference in Bratislava on Monday, the head of the euro area's central bank emphasized that Europe has already missed the opportunity to be a first mover in AI, falling significantly behind both the United States and China in the critical technology race.
"We need to remove all the obstacles that stop us from embracing this transformation," Lagarde declared. "Otherwise we risk letting the wave of AI adoption pass us by and jeopardise Europe's future."
Key Barriers to AI Adoption
Lagarde identified several critical barriers slowing Europe's AI progress, including fragmented regulations, high energy costs, and bureaucratic obstacles that delay the construction of essential data centres.
The continent faces a substantial computing power deficit, with recent data from German digital business association Bitkom revealing that Europe's data centres had computing capacity of just 16 gigawatts last year. This compares poorly with 48 gigawatts in the United States and 38 gigawatts in China.
Bureaucratic hurdles such as prolonged permit processes make it increasingly difficult to rapidly expand data centre infrastructure and computing capabilities across European nations.
Strategic Dependencies and Competitiveness Risks
The ECB chief urged Europe to diversify critical parts of the AI supply chain and avoid creating single points of failure that could undermine technological sovereignty.
"If our data spaces use technology stacks that are owned and governed outside Europe, we deepen—rather than reduce—our strategic dependencies," Lagarde cautioned, highlighting concerns about over-reliance on US tech giants.
She warned that the consequences extend beyond simply losing the AI model race, noting that Europe would eventually face further loss of competitiveness across multiple sectors and industries if adoption continues to lag.
Despite these urgent warnings, UN rights chief Volker Turk separately expressed concerns about generative AI potentially becoming "a modern-day Frankenstein's monster" that could threaten human rights including privacy and free expression.
European governments have been stepping up calls to strengthen local AI industries, particularly amid uncertain relations with Washington under the Trump administration. The EU recently proposed rolling back key AI and data privacy rules in response to business concerns about regulatory burdens.
