The AI Action Summit in Paris will see tech and government leaders convene over 2 days, from the 10th-11th of February, to outline a global AI approach.
World’s leaders in government and business have met in Paris to discuss the future of AI investment, and how to safeguard against potential risks without stifling innovation.
Leaders attending include India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, the UK’s technology secretary Peter Kyle, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, and vice-premier Zhang Guoqing from China.
CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Sam Altman from OpenAI will also make an appearance at the event in France’s capital.
Previous AI summits in the UK and South Korea focused on how to mitigate the risks of AI following the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022. However, it is expected the Paris event will focus less on safety and more on AI investment and evolution.
Innovation vs Regulation
In August 2024, the EU introduced the AI Act, which remains the most comprehensive regulatory guidelines on AI implementation and development globally.
Since then, a lot has happened in the AI world. The US under president Donald Trump announced Stargate, a $600 billion AI infrastructure project to boost America’s stake as an AI power.
Shortly after, Chinese startup DeepSeek released its latest AI chatbot, rivalling the likes of ChatGPT and sending shockwaves through US tech markets — the news sent chip giant Nvidia’s market cap down by $600 billion.
The UK also announced its own ‘AI Action Plan’ to boost its stake in the global AI race, and prime minister Keir Starmer said ‘AI Growth Zones’ would be created in the country to strengthen its position.
The speed of AI innovation dwarfing the pace of regulation, and how to mitigate this, will certainly be an overarching theme at the Paris summit.
With other conversations focused on the impact of AI on public infrastructure, the future of work and AI’s influence on culture, trust and security, and global governance.
Europe’s Stake In AI
Alongside the Paris summit, French president Emmanuel Macron announced a €109 billion investment plan for AI infrastructure in France.
He also announced Current AI, a partnership with eight countries designed to bolster AI innovation. The initiative has secured €400 million in initial investment and aims to raise a further €2.5 billion in the next five years.
An additional contributor to France’s AI investment is the UAE, which will be investing up to €50 billion in new data centres in France. Part of this investment comes from Abu Dhabi’s MGX Fund, which is also involved in the US Stargate project.
While speaking to France 2 television on Sunday, Macron explained the necessity of expanding AI resources in France, as the US and China hold power in the industry. “This is the equivalent for France of what the US announced for Stargate,” he said.
A broader investment plan worth €150 billion has simultaneously been introduced to boost Europe’s stake in AI. Led by the venture capital firm General Catalyst, the EU AI Champions Initiative will serve to incorporate AI into European workplaces, invest in startups, and build more infrastructure.
The initiative is backed by over 60 European companies, including Volkswagen and Spotify.
