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Key Takeaways From The Paris AI Summit
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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story [siliconrepublic.com]:
The fresh funding from the EU comes a day after France announced a €109bn investment into AI.
“Action”, “investments” and “opportunities” were some of the key takeaways from the third global artificial intelligence (AI) summit which drew to a close in Paris this afternoon (11 February).
Concluding the two-day summit held at the Grand Palais, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced an additional €50bn in investments, on top of the €150bn already mobilised yesterday (10 February).
€10bn of the EU’s investment is earmarked for AI factories [siliconrepublic.com], of which 12 were already set up in “just a few months,” von der Leyen said.
“This is not a promise – it is happening right now, and it is the largest public investment for AI in the world”.
Over the weekend, French president Emmanuel Macron announced a more than €100bn AI investment over the next few years, in a bid to make France a leader in the latest chapter of the AI technology race.
While on Monday, the EU ‘AI Champions’ initiative – a collective of more than 60 European companies – has pledged €150bn for “AI-related opportunities” in the continent for the next five years.
The summit brought high-profile names under one roof, including US vice-president JD Vance, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin to discuss the future of AI as well as the safety and sustainability of the technology.
Vance emphasised the need for de-regulation while prioritising innovation in the AI space. Speaking at the second day of the event, he said: “I’m not here to talk about AI safety…I’m here to talk about AI opportunity.”
“We are too self-conscious, too risk-averse,” he added and argued that restrictions on AI would mean “paralysing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations”.
Vance criticised the EU’s regulations on Big Tech, especially the Digital Services Act (DSA) and said that some of the US’s “most productive companies” are “forced” to deal with regulations that push to take content down and police “so-called misinformation”.
The EU’s DSA regulates online platforms and curtails disinformation by preventing illegal and harmful activities online. Over the years, the Commission has investigated a number of US-based tech giants under the Act, including Amazon [siliconrepublic.com], X [siliconrepublic.com] and Meta [siliconrepublic.com].
“The Trump administration is troubled by reports that some foreign governments are considering tightening screws on US tech companies with international footprints. America cannot and will not accept that, and we think it’s a terrible mistake,” Vance added.
The summit presented the opportunity for attending nations to sign an international agreement on AI that promotes ‘inclusivity’ and ‘sustainability’ for the people and the planet. The agreement’s main priorities also promote transparency, safety as well as security and trustworthiness.
However, while 60 countries signed the agreement – including China – the US and UK avoided inking their pledges to the agreement.
Responding to news outlets [theguardian.com], a spokesperson for the UK’s prime minister said that the government would “only ever sign up to initiatives that are in UK national interests”.
However, “[France] remain one of our closest partners in all areas of AI,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, Forrester VP and principal analyst Thomas Husson said: “I’d be very surprised if all participants were to sign a meaningful political declaration [at the summit]. At best, there might be some generic consensus on AI risks. Is it a failure? Definitely not.
“French president Macron’s agenda was not so much to reach an agreement, but to showcase France’s assets in the AI race.”
France made attempts over the past two days to place itself as a meaningful alternative to the US, UK and China in the AI race.
Yesterday (10 February), French president Emmanuel Macron referenced US president Donald Trump while speaking to an audience and said: “I have a good friend in the other part of the world saying ‘drill baby drill [fortune.com]‘.
“Here there is no need to drill. It’s just ‘plug, baby, plug’, electricity is available.”
However, Macron’s enthusiastic pitch inviting AI investments and businesses in the country, along with France’s own more €100bn investment pledge, will ultimately not change much, explained Husson.
“The US still dominates funding and investment in the infrastructure and is against any regulation,” he said.
Although, within Europe, France is still leading the AI charts [siliconrepublic.com], attracting 22pc of all venture capital investments into the technology. The country only trails behind the UK, which leads AI investments at 33pc.
