From Safety To Action: The Upcoming French AI Summit
On February 10 – 11, France will host the AI Action Summit, gathering government officials, executives, and representatives from NGOs and civil society organizations in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron aims to leverage the summit to promote French leadership on AI in Europe and globally. This event presents a timely opportunity to examine France’s strategy on AI and its ambitions within a competitive technology and policy landscape.
The Inflation Of AI Policy Gatherings
The Paris AI Action Summit is the third in a series of events that began at Bletchley Park in the UK in November 2023. This inaugural gathering attracted representatives from 28 countries, including the US, China, and EU leaders, focusing on the risks associated with AI and promoting a human-centric, trustworthy development of this technology. Participants ratified the Bletchley Declaration, advocating for international cooperation to address risks posed by advanced models and the potential misuse of publicly available models by criminal organizations.
The Bletchley Park summit, characterized by its impressive production values, successfully placed AI safety in the spotlight. Notably, the UK announced the establishment of the AI Safety Institute, the first of several such institutes expected to emerge globally. Shortly before the summit, former President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI, outlining safety objectives for the US government. This set the stage for the announcement of the US AI Safety Institute in February 2024, which aims to mitigate the risks of advanced AI systems.
What Direction for the 2025 French Summit?
Following the Seoul Summit in May 2024, France quickly announced its intention to host the next gathering in Paris. This marks a significant milestone as France becomes the first EU member state to host such an event, highlighting the EU’s role in technological standardization on a global scale. The EU AI Act represents a major step toward establishing a policy framework for regulating AI, positioning the Union as a central hub for these discussions.
However, concerns have been raised within the AI safety community regarding France’s decision to rebrand the upcoming event from the “AI Safety Summit” to the “AI Action Summit.” This change suggests a shift toward a more growth-oriented agenda, potentially broadening the focus beyond safety concerns. In a recent interview, Anne Bouverot, France’s special envoy on AI, addressed these concerns, stating that the rebranding aims to convey a proactive approach rather than merely addressing risks.
This strategic shift is evident in the summit’s official agenda, which outlines five key areas of focus: (1) Public Interest AI, (2) Future of Work, (3) Innovation and Culture, (4) Trust in AI, and (5) Global AI Governance. While the Trust in AI theme continues the critical discussions initiated at earlier summits, it is no longer the central focus, reflecting a broader ambition to address multiple dimensions of AI development and deployment.
The French AI Strategy, With Everything On It
France’s decision to broaden the themes of the AI Action Summit signifies a strategic approach to asserting its position on the global stage. This effort aims to enhance France’s independence while strengthening its credibility with European partners. In the realm of digital policy, France has sought to balance leveraging US leadership in key technologies with maintaining open channels of cooperation with emerging powers.
This dual approach is exemplified by the summit’s structure, with India serving as a co-chair to emphasize the role of emerging nations in shaping future AI initiatives. France’s commitment to inclusivity in AI governance was further demonstrated in May 2024, when it issued a joint declaration with China addressing safety and existential risks in AI, indicating a willingness to collaborate with non-Western actors on shared challenges.
At the same time, France aims to attract US investors, critical partners in nurturing domestic technology champions. Although France is not a global leader in the AI race, it seeks to position itself as a credible player, as demonstrated by the rise of Mistral AI. Valued at over $6 billion, Mistral AI has gained recognition for developing state-of-the-art models and supports open-source alternatives to US leaders like OpenAI.
However, sustaining national champions like Mistral AI will require ongoing cooperation with the US to secure access to cutting-edge technologies and funding. France has recently benefited from a privileged position in the US AI Diffusion Framework, placing it among countries exempt from export controls on semiconductors, highlighting the importance of transatlantic partnerships in advancing its AI objectives.
The upcoming AI Action Summit serves as a critical juncture to assess the evolving landscape of global AI governance. As the new US administration asserts its priorities amid competition with China, the stakes for international collaboration in this field have never been higher. The outcomes of the summit will likely influence geopolitical developments in the years to come, reinforcing the necessity for the AI safety community to guide innovation with responsibility and foresight.
