What France hopes to get from its AI summit

PARIS — France has set the bar high for itself as it prepares to gather global leaders on artificial intelligence at the AI Action Summit in Paris on Feb. 10-11.

According to dozens of documents obtained by POLITICO in recent weeks, Paris will be asking governments, businesses and civil society at the third global summit on AI to sign up to a series of commitments on AI governance, the technology’s place in the workplace, how to use it for the common good, innovation and culture, and trust.

Some might prove trickier to land than others. Here’s what you need to know:

France’s governance plans in turmoil

According to a draft diplomatic statement, obtained by POLITICO, France wants to call on governments to promote AI that is “inclusive and sustainable for people and the planet”.

But the spirit of this document, prepared by the foreign ministry, may struggle to find backing elsewhere as President Donald Trump’s new administration in the United States, where officials have railed against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and rolled back climate pledges. Trump already raised the stakes for a global AI race with a $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure and ripped up rules agreed in 2023 that set some curbs on AI developers.

This casts doubt on a potential U.S. signature at the bottom of the diplomatic declaration — and, consequently, on the international clout of the text.

France also intends to revive the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPIA). Launched by France and Canada and backed by the OECD, this organization aims to encourage the “responsible” development of AI. According to two people involved in the discussions, the partnership hopes to sign up around ten additional countries at the summit.

Investments in France

One of France’s most pressing projects is a call for AI companies to announce investments in France at the summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to host a Feb. 10 meeting with data center giants at the Elysée Palace, POLITICO has learned. Invitees include Microsoft and Google, cloud platform Fluidstack, data center specialists Equinix, Digital Realty and Telehouse, and cloud scale-up Evroc. Investor MGX and bank JP Morgan will also be in attendance, as will energy stalwarts EDF and RTE.

The summit in recent days has stealthily pivoted to focus on French and European competitiveness, with Paris insisting that the European Commission lay out its plans at the event.

Coalition for sustainable AI

On the environmental front, France plans to set up a “coalition for sustainable artificial intelligence” made up of governments and businesses, according to a presentation from the “culture and innovation” working group, also obtained by POLITICO. Several companies have already lent their support to this initiative, including IBM, Salesforce, Hugging Face, Eviden and Nvidia.

The form of this organization is still unclear: it will not be “a new international coalition,” but “a community of stakeholders committed to sharing the science, solutions and standards that must guide the development and deployment of artificial intelligence in line with climate objectives,” according to the roadmap.

Involving workers

France is taking more of a risk with a text, also obtained by POLITICO, that calls on the world’s AI and tech giants to commit to including workers’ representatives in discussions on integrating AI into the workplace.

According to two private sector officials who spoke to POLITICO, this is a point of concern for some companies at a time when some, like Meta, are beginning to talk about replacing certain developer posts with AI.

Funding open-source AI

To support its ambitions in artificial intelligence, France is also planning a new AI Foundation to promote an open-source approach to the technology. The organizers of the summit hope to provide it with €500 million in investment this year and €2.5 billion over time, coming in equal parts from public and private funds.

According to a presentation obtained by POLITICO, the foundation will have a permanent governance structure with a council, a board of directors to define its major orientations and a “small secretariat” to handle day-to-day business.

Child protection, an island of consensus

Given the sensitivity of the political issues at stake, the summit organizers are hoping to reach a consensus with China and the United States on one of the key issues in digital regulation: child protection.

Under the aegis of the Paris Peace Forum, AI companies have been invited to the French Consulate in San Francisco to launch a new coalition, this time dedicated to “AI that benefits child development.” A draft “call to action” also obtained by POLITICO, is currently being finalized and should bring together a core group of 15 to 20 players, according to a person close to the organization. These companies will have to ensure that their products respect the rights and welfare of minors.

Calming the cultural world

The cultural sector, which has complained of being marginalized in the summit’s preparations, get a nod with a charter on copyright.

The copyright text is limited in scope at this stage and signed by dozens of international and European organizations representing rights holders… but no AI companies, which have been reluctant to provide any guarantees on copyright.

Emile Marzolf, Klara Durand and Tiphaine Saliou contributed to this article.