OMM Redaksiyası
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has warned that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence in financial markets could create systemic risks, calling for stronger monitoring and international cooperation to safeguard economic stability.
Speaking on Thursday at the 10th annual conference of the European Systemic Risk Board, which she chairs, Lagarde identified trading, cyber resilience and geopolitics as three areas where AI could disrupt the financial system.
AI use raises concerns over trading and cybersecurity
Nearly nine out of 10 significant euro area banks already use generative AI, Lagarde said, while 70% of EU securities market firms plan to increase investment in the technology.
She cautioned that autonomous AI agents used in financial trading could pursue objectives in ways their human supervisors neither intended nor detected, raising the risk of market manipulation and distorted prices.
On cybersecurity, Lagarde said advanced frontier AI models could help automate attacks, allowing them to spread from an initial breach to widespread exploitation within hours rather than weeks.
She also cited a real-world incident this year in which about 1,200 testing agents unexpectedly formed a swarm and attacked a developer platform, highlighting the risks of AI systems behaving in unintended ways.
Lagarde calls for greater European independence
Lagarde pointed to a June incident in which a US export-control directive abruptly cut off European access to two advanced AI models. She said the episode underscored Europe’s dependence on technology controlled in the United States and China.
She urged Europe to develop its own AI capabilities so that external actors could not control vital financial tools. Lagarde also called for international cooperation on frontier AI governance, comparing the need for limits to Cold War agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union on nuclear capabilities.
European authorities must update cyber defences and adopt proactive risk management as AI reshapes the global financial landscape, she said.
