Philip Lane, a member of the European Central Bank’s Executive Board, says artificial intelligence is already driving economic activity in the euro area, although its full payoff has yet to materialise. Companies in the region are expected to allocate around 10% of their total investment to the technology in 2026, while AI-related lending accounts for roughly one-quarter of recent credit growth to euro area companies. Adoption is advancing rapidly: 64% of firms reported using AI experimentally or moderately, and the share of workers using it on the job rose from 26% in 2024 to 52% in 2026. Europe nevertheless trails the US and China, which together hold roughly 75% of global AI computing capacity compared with 5% for Europe. The ECB estimates that AI could add 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points to annual euro area productivity growth over the next decade, but the investment boom is also contributing to tighter financial conditions.
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