ECB President Lagarde warned on Wednesday that artificial intelligence could
trigger a financial crisis and said the ECB is determined to prevent that
outcome. She said even with robust regulation the development of AI cannot be
stopped and the ECB’s role is to prepare. The main risk, she said, is not AI
itself but the disruption when this disruptive variable enters the real world;
as these systems grow more powerful and penetrate the economy they could inflict
damage to jobs and savings that rivals past financial crises. The ECB will write
to bank CEOs to ensure institutions are prepared for AI attacks, have sufficient
operational resilience and understand that addressing these risks will require
significant investment. Lagarde added that a global AI governance framework —
analogous to Cold War-era nuclear non-proliferation agreements — will ultimately
be needed.
