France's AI Action Summit

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CSIS·csis.org/analysis/frances-ai-action-summit

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Published by CSIS in February 2025, this piece is useful context for understanding how international AI governance norms are shifting away from safety-centric frameworks toward economic and innovation priorities, relevant to coordination and policy discussions in AI safety.

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Importance: 45/100organizational reportanalysis

Summary

CSIS analyst Laura Caroli examines the Paris AI Action Summit (February 10-11, 2025), analyzing how it differed from previous UK and Seoul summits by shifting focus from AI safety to AI adoption, innovation, and investment. The piece explores France's optimistic framing of AI governance under Macron's leadership and its implications for international AI coordination.

Key Points

•The Paris summit marked a narrative shift from 'safety' to 'action,' reflecting France's emphasis on AI adoption and opportunity over risk management.
•It was the third in a series of major international AI summits, following the UK AI Safety Summit (Nov 2023) and AI Seoul Summit (May 2024).
•French President Macron deliberately framed AI through a lens of optimism and investment rather than precautionary safety governance.
•The summit represents an evolving international diplomacy landscape around AI, with different host nations shaping the agenda and tone.
•The name change from 'Safety Summit' to 'Action Summit' signals a broader geopolitical tension between safety-focused and capability/growth-focused AI governance approaches.

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 Critical Questions
 by 
 Laura Caroli 
 
 
 

 Published February 14, 2025

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The Paris AI Action Summit took place on February 10–11, following the UK AI Safety Summit (November 1–2, 2023) and the AI Seoul Summit (May 21–22, 2024). It was the most anticipated international event of the year on artificial intelligence.

 Q1: How is the AI Action Summit different from the UK and Seoul summits? 

 A1: The AI Action Summit —which was hosted by France in Paris on February 10 and 11—marks a significant narrative shift compared to its two predecessors: the UK AI Safety Summit and the AI Seoul Summit , which took place in November 2023 and May 2024, respectively. The most significant shift was already clear from the name change: moving away from an exclusive focus on safety to one on “action,” which is to say, AI adoption. The perspective that French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to convey was one of optimism and opportunity around AI rather than one of safety and risk management. The overarching themes of the summit were innovation and investments around AI, its impacts on culture and creativity, environmental sustainability, and the need to make AI inclusive and accessible to all, including in the Global South.

 The French government also decided to “go big.” Whereas the UK summit was capped at 100 individuals representing 30 countries—a smaller group of countries with more advanced AI capabilities—the French AI summit included more than 1,000 participants, including several dozen heads of state, from more than 100 countries. This made reaching a consensus much more difficult but was helpful for France’s goal of attracting interest and investment in its AI sector. France ultimately announced that it had secured commitments to invest more than €109 billion over the next few years.

 Q2: What was agreed upon at the Paris AI Action Summit, and who signed the final declaration? 

 A2: A total of 61 countries and regional blocs signed the final declaration “on inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet.” However, the news was dominated by those who did not sign, specifically the United States and the United Kingdom . The two countries decided not to sign for very different reasons. A UK spokesperson told the Financial Times that the United Kingdom’s refusal was because the statement “didn’t provide enough practical clarity on global g

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