Paris AI Summit: AI Safety Takes a Back Seat, Global Leaders Clash Over Regulation

Key Takeaways

• As the Paris AI Summit enters its second day, it has already provided some insight into the potential future of global AI synergy.
• The focus on AI safety has taken a back seat this year.
• France, co-chaired with India, is hosting the AI Summit in Paris on Feb. 10-11

The two-day Paris AI Action Summit, held on Feb. 10-11, 2025, has brought together leaders from nearly 100 countries to discuss the future of AI.

Hot on the heels of China’s disruptive DeepSeek release and U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to remove most of the guardrails from development, the summit has arrived at a highly divided time for AI technology.

Here are six key takeaways from the summit.

Safety Has Not Been The Focus This Year

Unlike last year’s summit in the U.K., this year’s gathering in Paris has not focused on AI safety.

Instead, this summit has been seen more as an action summit. This mirrors rising views among leading tech executives and countries like the U.S., which feel a stringent focus on safety is holding back innovation in technology.

The summit aims to focus on AI opportunities, such as tackling climate change and helping workers.

Open-source AI technology has also been a key theme this year, with France using the success of China’s DeepSeek to prove it works.

Mistral AI, France’s most prominent AI firm, has repeatedly called for fewer restrictions on the technology.

Leaked AI Action Statement Faces Criticism

On Saturday, Feb. 8, a leaked draft of the summit’s declaration, which was due to be signed by attending countries, was criticized by experts concerned about safety.

Talking to The Times , Professor Stuart Russell, President of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI, took issue with the statement’s failure to align with the previous summit’s commitments to safety.

“I can only hope this is a drafting error and that the final statement will reaffirm the need to continue addressing all the risks enumerated in previous agreements and reaffirm the urgency of doing so,” he told the publication.

At the same time, the U.S. has reportedly resisted the statement because it mentions the environmental cost of AI. It is currently unclear if the U.S. will sign the declaration.

“The future of AI is a political issue and an issue of sovereignty and strategic dependence,” French President Macron said on Sunday .

AI Inequality Could Be Growing

Christy Hoffman, general secretary of the UNI Global Union, warned on Monday that AI risks becoming “another engine of inequality.”

“Without worker representation, AI-driven productivity gains risk turning the technology into yet another engine of inequality, further straining our democracies,” she said.

Hoffman advocates for including workers in discussions about AI implementation, claiming that their involvement is crucial to ensuring that AI-driven productivity gains benefit all rather than concentrating power and wealth among a select few.

She previously warned that without such involvement, AI could further concentrate power among a small elite.

Countries Remain Divided Over AI Approach

Despite global leaders meeting on the world stage, there are still many apparent differences in perspectives between countries.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to continue to advocate for a hands-off approach to AI regulation, emphasizing the importance of fostering innovation pushed by President Trump.

In contrast, European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have called for more robust regulations to ensure ethical AI development.

Macron highlighted the need for Europe to simplify regulations to remain competitive in the AI sector.

The world’s differing approaches highlight the immense challenge of establishing a unified global framework for technology.

France Leads Major Investment Announcements

France announced substantial investment commitments totaling approximately €110 billion ($113 billion) at the summit to bolster its AI sector.

Leading contributions include €20 billion from Canadian firm Brookfield and up to €50 billion from the United Arab Emirates.

These investments aim to mirror the billions of dollars being pledged in the U.S., specifically through U.S. President Donald Trump’s Stargate project.

Macron told reporters the new pledge was “the equivalent for France of what the United States announced with Stargate.”

Emmanuel Macron’s Troubling Deepfakes

To kick off the Summit, Macron made the strange decision to post a montage of deepfake images of himself on social media.

The sinister videos depicted the President dancing to a rap song and in a disco with various 1980s hairstyles.

While Macron’s use of deepfakes was intended to humorously highlight AI’s capabilities, it also hit on the part of the technology where concerns are growing.

Concerns surrounding deepfakes include their ability to spread false information and mislead the public.

Without a focus on safety at this year’s summit, it appears worries about the future of deepfakes have been swept under the rug.