Euro zone firms are paying for AI out of their own pockets, ECB survey finds

Europe’s companies want artificial intelligence. They just aren’t asking anyone else to pay for it.

A European Central Bank survey released on October 2, 2026 found that 72% of euro area firms planning AI investments intend to fund them from cash flow or retained earnings. Banks, investors, and bond markets are mostly watching from the sidelines.

The numbers behind the piggy bank

The findings come from the ECB’s Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises, known as SAFE. This round polled around 5,000 firms between April and June 2026.

The 72% figure covers the full AI package: the technology itself, the infrastructure to run it, and the people needed to make it work. External options barely register. Bank loans, grants, and leasing together account for approximately 16% of firms.

Equity or venture capital comes in at 6%. Debt securities sit at 1%.

Over 80% of businesses plan to rely on just one financing source, and for most of them that source is their own balance sheet.

Adoption is wide, but shallow

About 70% of firms report some level of AI usage. Only 7% describe their usage as significant or intensive.

Firms expect to put an average of 9-10% of their total capital expenditure toward AI in 2026. Companies at moderate or significant adoption stages expect to allocate 11-20% of their investment budgets to AI.

Geography also plays a role. Usage is highest in the Netherlands, Finland, and Austria, and lowest in Italy and Ireland.

Why lenders get nervous about code

The survey points to a structural problem in how the euro area finances intangible assets. Intangible investments carry lower collateral value than physical machinery or infrastructure, which makes them harder to finance through traditional channels.

External financing is more available for tangible AI assets than for intangible ones, leaving the software-heavy side of AI to be funded internally.

What it means for Europe’s AI race

When a company funds AI only from retained earnings, its ambitions are capped by what it has already earned. The findings suggest these funding constraints could limit the size of European AI projects relative to competitors in the United States.

With equity and venture capital at 6% and debt securities at 1%, the channels that typically fund high-growth technology are playing a minor role in Europe’s AI buildout.

Several signals are worth watching in future SAFE rounds: whether the external financing share for AI rises, whether the 7% intensive-use figure climbs, and whether the 9-10% capex allocation grows.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.