Investing.com — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the euro zone will need time to see further productivity gains from an artificial intelligence-related investment boom.
Speaking at a press conference in Frankfurt after the ECB kept interest rates unchanged, Lagarde noted that AI spending is part of a broader shift toward domestic economic momentum in the region.
“The really interesting thing from our perspective is how it will impact productivity, and how it will contribute or not to inflation, depending on the level of improved productivity,” Lagarde told reporters. “There is a little bit of that, but it’s going to take a while to unleash.”
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Policymakers maintained their current monetary policy stance, noting that “the economy remains resilient in a challenging global environment.” Lagarde highlighted investment as a key driver of growth in the euro zone.
“While the net export activity and contribution to growth is on the decline, the domestic market is responding strongly,” she said. “Consumption is improving a little bit, but not much. But investment is the big story.”
The ECB president pointed to AI as a significant factor behind rising private-sector investment, particularly in information communication technology. She explained that AI is driving spending across multiple categories.
“It’s everything having to do with AI,” Lagarde said. “It’s AI, it’s the infrastructure that comes with it — so construction of data centers in the pipeline — and going through the process of licensing and authorization, it’s software, it’s hardware. It’s a lot of investment that is coming out of that particular segment.”
This continues a theme Lagarde addressed in December, when she encouraged Europe to embrace the benefits associated with artificial intelligence.