# Lagarde Warns Foreign AI Dependence Could Disrupt European Industries

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/26216
Published: 2026-10-01T18:19:58.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-01T18:19:58.000Z
Section: Technology

> The ECB president called for more computing capacity and AI models running on European infrastructure as the United States leads in computing resources.

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde warned that Europe’s reliance on foreign artificial intelligence providers could expose multiple sectors to disruption if access were withdrawn or its terms changed. In a Sept. 14 speech in Vienna, she urged Europe to expand computing capacity and develop models that run on European infrastructure.

The capacity gap is substantial. The United States hosts three-quarters of global AI computing capacity, while Europe hosts 5%. In 2025, the United States produced 59 notable AI models and China produced 35; France and the United Kingdom produced one each.

Europe’s data-center capacity gap is projected to rise from 3 gigawatts in 2025 to about 20 gigawatts by 2036 under a baseline scenario. Closing the gap could cost as much as €600 billion, an upper-bound estimate that includes chips and assumes a projected 19-gigawatt shortfall.

Lagarde framed the challenge as balancing faster AI adoption and its potential economic gains with concerns about dependence on systems governed by foreign providers and laws. Rapid adoption could raise total factor productivity by up to 4% over a decade. Nearly half of businesses that considered AI but decided against using it cited data-protection concerns.

Europe also relies on other regions for parts of the AI supply chain, including chips from Taiwan and models from the United States. Lagarde called for models that are “good enough” for most tasks and run on European infrastructure, reducing the impact of losing access to foreign systems.