In the face of the Chinese and American giants, the EU is hoping to find its place in the great battle of artificial intelligence. On Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 February, the major Artificial Intelligence Action Summit is taking place in Paris, bringing together dozens of heads of State and government and a myriad of players from the technology and industry sectors.
This event, of a rare scale, is co-chaired with India. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is in Paris for the occasion, as is the Vice-President of the United States, J.D. Vance, China’s Vice Premier, Zhang Guoqing, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Vice-President of the Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Henna Virkkunen, and the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, are also in attendance.
The aim of the summit is to encourage the development of trustworthy AI “in the public interest” and to highlight the opportunities offered by the development of the technology. In line with European values (see EUROPE 13570/10) and contrary to the main theme of the London Summit in 2023: the risks associated with AI.
Monday saw a wide range of players take part in around 20 round tables and workshops. European Commissioner Henna Virkkunen took part in a discussion entitled ‘Building trustworthy AI: from voluntary commitments to collaborative codes of practice’ (see EUROPE 13524/11).
A host of announcements and commitments. Prior to the opening of the summit, France had announced €109 billion of investment in the country, in particular for the installation of data centres, which are essential for the development of generative AI (see EUROPE 13563/11).
In addition, 60 major companies announced the creation of an alliance to make the EU a “world leader” in AI (see EUROPE 13576/5).
“We need more Europe and we need to offer a bigger domestic market to our start-ups”, said French President Emmanuel Macron in his closing speech at the end of the day.
He emphasised Europe’s “key assets” and “competitive advantages that we must make the most of”. He also reiterated “the need to simplify”, in line with “the rest of the world”, when it comes to “granting permits, authorisations, clinical trials” etc.
“Our main problem is a question of timing: we announce strategies, but we are too slow”, he insisted. “We are going to adopt the strategy that [France] adopted for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris: simplifying procedures and keeping our commitments”, he enthused.
An unconvincing statement. On Tuesday morning, the heads of State and government and a number of international figures will gather for a plenary session at the Grand Palais, which should result in a joint declaration entitled ‘Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet’, which Agence Europe obtained a draft version of on 31 January.
The declaration mentions the three main principles that frame the resolutions and actions committed to at the summit: “science, solutions - focusing on open AI models in compliance with countries’ frameworks - and policy standards, in line with international frameworks”.
The signatories commit to promoting an “open, multi-stakeholder and inclusive approach that will enable AI to be human rights-based, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy”.
But, much to the dismay of several industry experts, the document makes no mention of the risks associated with AI, and fails to take account of the achievements of previous summits.
According to several sources, the United States and the United Kingdom have not, at this stage, expressed any intention of being among the signatories.
The declaration also announces the launch of a ‘Public Interest AI Platform and Incubator’ and recognises the need to take account of human rights issues. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)