In her speech at the BratislavAI Forum, ECB President Christine Lagarde argued that artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, yet its impact on productivity has not fully appeared in economic data—much like earlier technological revolutions. Despite record global investment in AI, she warned that Europe risks falling behind the United States and China if it fails to act decisively.
Lagarde highlighted why this technological wave may unfold faster than past ones: AI can accelerate its own innovation through recursive learning, and it diffuses quickly because it runs on existing digital infrastructure. These features could significantly boost productivity growth sooner than previous revolutions like electricity or computing.
For Europe, the potential gains are substantial. Although it is no longer a first mover, Lagarde argued that Europe can still become a strong second mover by focusing on adoption rather than trying to lead model development. She emphasized the importance of industrial-scale data spaces—such as Manufacturing-X and the European Health Data Space—to unlock cross-sector data sharing and strengthen competitiveness.
However, she also cautioned that Europe must overcome long-standing barriers: high energy costs, fragmented regulation, and underdeveloped capital markets. Without action, Europe risks deeper strategic dependencies and further erosion of competitiveness.
Lagarde concluded by urging immediate steps to accelerate AI diffusion, warning that the pace of technological change may be “ten times faster” than past industrial revolutions—and Europe must prepare now to secure future prosperity.
