Lagarde warns of significant European capital outflow to US AI and calls for building local computing power to safeguard technological sovereignty

On September 14, European Central Bank President Lagarde delivered a speech in Vienna titled "The New Era of Capital: Growth, Sovereignty, and Artificial Intelligence." She pointed out that Eurozone households hold approximately 440 billion euros in US technology assets, with a large amount of European capital flowing into US AI. While Europe's AI penetration rate is over half, its digital investment lags behind the US. The widespread adoption of AI is expected to boost productivity by up to 4% within ten years, helping to ease fiscal pressures caused by population aging. Lagarde warned that simply importing AI carries risks such as data vulnerabilities, supply interruptions, and loss of technological leadership. Europe needs to build its own computing power, with the gap potentially requiring up to 600 billion euros to fill, and develop domestic AI models. She remarked that European tech innovation financing relies too heavily on banks; although there is no shortage of domestic savings, there is a lack of channels to direct these funds. She also highlighted the possibility of an AI bubble risk in the US.