The AI Action Summit commenced in Paris on Monday, marking the beginning of a pivotal two-day event that gathers world leaders, tech executives, and academics. The summit aims to delve into the profound impact of artificial intelligence on society, governance, and the environment. With representatives from 80 countries, this global congregation seeks to foster collaboration and address the pressing challenges of AI in today's rapidly evolving technological landscape.
Prominent figures from the tech industry, including OpenAI's chief executive Sam Altman, Microsoft's president Brad Smith, and Google's chief executive Sundar Pichai, are among the notable attendees. World leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and US Vice President JD Vance also join the discussions. A major highlight of the summit is the announcement of a new $400 million partnership between several countries. This initiative aims to support AI projects that prioritize societal benefits over mere profit generation, with a particular focus on healthcare advancements.
In parallel, China hosts its version of the event, known as The AI Development and Safety Network. Fu Ying, a former Chinese official, highlighted the adverse effects that current hostilities between the US and China have on AI safety progress. She advocated for building AI tools on open-source foundations as an effective means to prevent potential harm. During the summit, Matt Clifford, author of the UK's AI Action Plan, cautioned that AI technology could bring about more radical changes than when word processing replaced traditional typing.
"Open source offers humans better opportunities to detect and solve problems," she said, adding that "the lack of transparency among the giants makes people nervous." – Fu Ying
Elon Musk's absence from the guest list has sparked curiosity about whether he might make an appearance. The summit follows closely on the heels of a significant industry shift, triggered by China's DeepSeek unveiling a powerful, low-cost AI model that challenges US tech supremacy. Fu Ying described an "explosive period" of innovation in China's AI sector since the country's AI development plan was first published in 2017.
"From a safety point of view," it was easier to spot issues with the viral Chinese AI assistant DeepSeek, which was built using open-source architecture, than ChatGPT, whose code has not been shared by its creator OpenAI. – Yoshua Bengio
The summit is emblematic of the global political maneuvering in the competitive arena of AI development. Fu Ying remarked on China's rapid advancements compared to the West but acknowledged the challenges they face.
"The Chinese move faster [than the West] but it's full of problems." – Fu Ying