As the AI Action Summit in Paris draws to a close, it’s clear the last two days have been about Europe pitching itself less as the regulator of the technology and more as a vocal supporter of growth in the sector.
The event, which notably rebranded following the ‘AI Safety Summit’ that took place in Bletchley Park in the UK in 2023, saw European leaders strike a resolute tone towards AI.
French president Emmanuel Macron led the charge, reiterating throughout the summit that it was a turning point for Europe. “It’s a wake-up call for our European strategy,” he said in a closing speech on the first day of the summit on Monday.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen struck a similar tone in a statement today. Whereas the last summit was about “laying the groundwork for AI safety”, this one was about “action” — “exactly what we need right now,” she said.
It comes as Europe — often perceived as a heavy-handed tech regulator stifling innovation — tries to compete in the fast-moving AI race against deep-pocketed AI companies in the US deploying billions of dollars to fund the technology, and new players emerging in China like GenAI startup DeepSeek.
Despite the change of tone, others weren’t convinced. “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it is taking off,” said US vice president JD Vance, speaking at the event today and making clear what the Trump administration’s view of European tech is. “I’d love to see that deregulatory flavour making its way into a lot of the conversations at this conference.
“We need our European friends in particular to look to this new frontier with optimism rather than trepidation.”
Regulating AI
One of the key pieces of legislation passed by the EU, the AI Act, recently came into effect to introduce new obligations on organisations developing and using AI — and some think it’s at odds with innovation.
“It’s an approach through risk,” Matthieu Baret, managing partner at French investor Eurazeo, tells Sifted. “It’s an important approach, but it’s not constructive. It’s better to see the opportunities and regulate as we see things coming.
“It’s not the dynamic we see in other countries like China and the US.”
The Trump administration has been keen to adopt an anti-regulation stance pitched as a way to foster growth in the sector.
Speaking at the summit, Vance said: “The Trump administration believes AI will have countless revolutionary applications […] and to restrict its development now will not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space, it would mean paralysing one of the most promising tech we have seen in generations. “The US is the leader in AI and our administration plans to keep it that way.”
“He came in like the new Sheriff in town,” said Guillaume Liegey, cofounder and CEO of Explain, a GenAI startup that helps companies navigate government procurement processes. “It makes you think about the Roman Empire when they started being a bit too arrogant. Now we have a choice, it’s a test for Europe.”
He added: “The big announcements this week go in the right direction. But if we want 100% economic sovereignty, then there’s still a long road ahead.”
The summit concluded today with a declaration on AI, signed by dozens of countries including France, India and China, and pledging for an “open”, “inclusive” and “ethical” approach to developing the tech. This includes developing AI that is “open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy”.
The UK and the US were reported to have refused to sign the declaration, with the UK saying that it had concerns about national security and global governance.
European ambitions
Demonstrating that Europe is moving beyond regulating tech is becoming a priority. Paul Midy, an MP in Macron’s centrist coalition who focuses on tech and startups, tells Sifted that the AI Action Summit intended to set the pace of change.
“The summit in the UK was about fear of AI, and about how we needed to regulate it,” says Midy. “We’ve talked about these topics enough.
“The AI Act is in place, we have the clearest regulation in the world. Now, the key topic is the economic opportunity that exists, the need to innovate and to innovate in Europe.”
The summit was packed with announcements made to reflect European ambitions.
Macron announced a total of €109bn in new investments for AI, which includes a strong focus on building new data centres in the country. The French president said that this is the equivalent for France of the Stargate project in the US — a $500bn AI infrastructure plan unveiled by the US government last month.
Dozens of major corporations, VC firms and startups also rallied behind a new initiative dubbed the ‘EU AI Champions’ initiative, which will see 20 key investors deploy €150bn into European AI over the next five years.
Von der Leyen announced that this will be topped up with €50bn from the EU.
“There have been some pretty concrete things that have been announced, which is good,” says Baret. “It’s important to show that Europe is still in the race for AI.”
Some, however, doubt that the announcements will translate into real change on the ground.
“Europe has had many waking calls that turn out not really becoming reality,” Paris-based VC Michael Jackson tells Sifted. “Let’s be cautiously optimistic.”
“What are actually the KPIs to make sure money is committed in the long term?… What is it actually going to do, when is it actually going to arrive?”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/ai-action-summit-regulation-analysis/
