Europe absent from AI safety debate as Lagarde warns of US-China dependency

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde framed Europe's AI dilemma as a choice between forgoing growth or becoming dependent on US and Chinese technology, highlighting the continent's absence from the global AI safety debate. The piece underscores Europe's regulatory focus on consumer protection rather than frontier AI development, leaving it without a seat at the table as safety concerns escalate. This matters because Europe's lack of AI capability could translate into strategic and economic dependency, while its regulatory stance may shape global norms without domestic industrial backing.