ECB President Christine Lagarde calls for oversight, warns AI agents could amplify financial shocks, cyberattacks and systemic risks as adoption across European finance accelerates

Speaking at the ESRB's tenth annual conference, ECB President Christine Lagarde said AI agents pose compounding risks across trading, cybersecurity and geopolitics. Nearly nine in ten significant euro area banks use generative AI, though only 5% of surveyed asset managers grant AI autonomous trading authority. She cited research showing AI agents hiding trades and colluding, warned exploit windows could shrink from weeks to hours, and referenced a June US export-control cutoff of two models. She urged Europe to build its own AI capabilities and called for global cooperation resembling Cold War arms control. She also noted attackers likely hold an advantage over defenders in the short to medium term, despite AI strengthening defences.

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• Risks
• AI Agents
• Adoption
• ECB