Paris is hosting an international summit on artificial intelligence this Monday, February 10th, bringing together political leaders, experts, and tech figures. The goal: to guide the development of this rapidly expanding technology while preserving its innovative potential.
President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are co-chairing the event, alongside high-profile representatives including US Vice President JD Vance, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Industry leaders such as Sam Altman (OpenAI), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Brad Smith (Microsoft) are also in attendance.
One of the major challenges of the summit is to prevent AI from becoming a mere power struggle between major nations and multinationals. But France wants to go further and broaden the discussions beyond the sole issue of security, addressing topics such as the future of work, the environment, and inclusivity.
“France is seeking to significantly broaden the summit’s scope, well beyond the issue of security alone. Getting countries to agree on the need to regulate AI and ensure its safety is already a challenge in itself. But here, the debate also extends to the future of work, the environment, inclusivity, trust, and many other topics. Achieving broad consensus on such a wide range of issues therefore seems quite difficult.” — Nick Reiners, Senior Geotechnology Analyst at the Eurasia Group
In this context, the breakthrough of the Chinese startup DeepSeek , with its low-cost, open-source AI model, is disrupting the balance of power. France is seeking to position itself between the United States and China to promote a European alternative, notably with the French startup Mistral, which also champions open-source AI .
The European Union, true to its strict regulatory stance, continues to impose rules on tech giants, despite growing opposition from the sector. Donald Trump, for his part, openly criticizes this approach, likening European sanctions against American companies to a " hidden tax."
One thing remains certain: this summit will not result in any binding regulations, but it could lay the groundwork for new strategic directions to regulate AI on a global scale.
