Operating in the thick of it
The AI Action Summit, taking place in Paris on 10-11 February, is focused on accelerating global AI development and adoption, while ensuring individual freedoms are respected and AI is aligned with humanist values for the collective benefit.
Shift in Focus on AI Safety and Risks
The summit marked a significant shift in the focus on AI safety and risks. Rather than concentrating on existential risks and broad societal harms posed by AI, the emphasis has shifted towards innovation and acceleration in AI development, with less emphasis on stringent safety concerns or slowing AI progress.
This shift was highlighted by leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron advocating for innovation, and U.S. Vice President JD Vance rejecting excessive caution about AI safety. Consequently, some countries like the U.S. and U.K. have moved away from existential risk frameworks towards national security-focused AI strategy and regulatory approaches aligned with rapid adoption and competitiveness.
Emphasis on Inclusivity and Public Interest
The summit placed a strong emphasis on aligning AI with humanist values for public benefit and collective good. The focus was on inclusivity—ensuring AI respects individual freedoms and promotes equity—and on collective benefit framed through humanist values.
However, detailed focus on power imbalances or advanced topics like agentic AI and upstream risks were not highlighted as central to the summit’s declared priorities. Instead, the event brought together diverse global stakeholders to foster international collaboration and collective governance, but leaned towards enabling AI innovation and deployment rather than deep safety or risk containment discussions.
Priorities and Deprioritizations
In summary, the Paris AI Action Summit advanced a pragmatic, innovation-driven agenda in global AI governance. The focus was on inclusivity and public interest, but safety risks, agentic AI concerns, and power imbalance issues were deprioritized in favor of accelerating AI adoption and deployment.
The summit presented several positive visions for the future, including the establishment of the Coalition for Sustainable AI and the creation of an international AI foundation. However, the governance of Advanced AI Assistants, which could place an unprecedented amount of power in the hands of large companies developing, providing, and controlling these systems, will require significant thought and care from policymakers.
Questions are being raised about whether there are adequate incentives for these companies to ensure new technologies are safe and work properly. As the advent of DeepSeek suggests, there may be developments that could make AI capabilities more widely accessible to governments, international collaborations, and public interest AI projects. However, without proper governance, these advancements could exacerbate existing power imbalances and increase risks.
[1] AI Action Summit, Paris, 2023. [3] Macron, E. & Vance, JD. (2023). Remarks at the AI Action Summit, Paris.
Technology and artificial-intelligence were key topics at the AI Action Summit in Paris, focusing on accelerating AI development and deployment, while ensuring individual freedoms were respected and AI was aligned with humanist values for the collective benefit. However, safety risks and concerns about power imbalances were deprioritized in favor of innovation and rapid adoption, raising questions about whether these advancements could exacerbate existing power imbalances and increase risks.
