Why Europe has been absent from the great AI safety debate

Though Europe has measures that address how consumers might encounter AI, technology will impact them if the worst scenarios bear

Europe’s dilemma over AI was rendered in stark terms this week. The head of the continent’s central bank, Christine Lagarde, said Europeans have two options: shun the technology and lose out on growth; or embrace it and become dependent on tools developed by the US and China.

The great debate over AI safety that has erupted in recent days threatens to make the choice moot. If the worst scenarios come to bear – and experts have differing views on this – then the technology will impact the continent regardless.

Europe has largely been absent from the highest levels of that debate, a result of the continent’s longstanding inability to produce a Silicon Valley-scale titan like Apple, Google or newcomer OpenAI. While it is a powerhouse in regulation, much to the White House’s chagrin, its lack of an Anthropic or Nvidia-sized frontrunner in the AI race has diminished its voice in the safety debate.

Ursula von der Leyen, a powerful political figure on the continent as president of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, addressed the issue this week by saying she will “invite the main frontier labs for a discussion on how we can support ongoing industry efforts to pace the frontier”.