AI Summit in Paris: US vs. China vs Europe vs the Rest?

by Claude Forthomme – Senior Editor

February 12, 2025

The AI landscape is rapidly evolving, no longer a simple two-horse race. China emerged as a leader when it released its new DeepSeek, disrupting the established order: At a fraction of the cost and time it took to develop the American GTP Chatbot, DeepSeek successfully rivaled and, in some areas, even exceeded it, like in its mathematical ability.  

This prompted an immediate reaction from OpenAI management that alleged unfair copying of features, and some experts now predict that, as a result, one may expect increased controls from America against foreign chatbots in order to protect Silicon Valley.   

This emerging tension between the two leading countries in AI development played out against a backdrop of exceptional investment into AI development across the board, in America, to be sure, but also in Europe and elsewhere. It was also reflected in the high-profile political and tech leaders gathering at the AI Summit in the Grand Palais in Paris, which closed its doors yesterday.  

Co-hosted by French President Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the summit brought together 1500 guests, including political leaders and tech firm executives, on February 10th and 11th. However, the absence of Elon Musk, whose rumored takeover bid of OpenAI was dismissed as “petty,” loomed over the event. Macron had invited him, but, as he stated on X (formerly Twitter), he could not attend in person due to “critical work in Washington DC.”  Musk is certainly busy with DOGE, dismantling the Federal Government structure but he found time to lead a consortium that offered $97.4 billion to acquire the non-profit entity that controls OpenAI.

This move was seen by observers as a hostile takeover attempt, mainly since Musk (who had co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left it before it took off) has been openly critical of OpenAI’s direction, notably its transition to a for-profit model. He believes the company should prioritize open-source development and safety, aligning with its original non-profit mission. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, was quick to respond and publicly rejected Musk’s bid, stating that OpenAI is not for sale and is committed to its mission of “developing AI for the benefit of humanity”.

So, while AI tech titans bickered, the AI Summit was focused on finding ways to agree on how to (safely) deregulate AI to spur development. This turned out to be a complicated task as the EU’s existing AI regulations are focused on protecting citizen privacy — although, it must be said, everyone in Europe agrees there’s too much red tape, and that hinders innovation. 

Compared to where AI Summit discussions were ten years ago, this new focus marks a major shift: Back then, the proposed international oversight on the model of AIEA was the order of the day. It now seems a distant prospect. And the few protesters standing in the cold outside of the Grand Palais are a testimony of where the wind is blowing:

Meanwhile, India, true to its vision as a leader of the (non-Chinese) Global South, sought to highlight the importance of AI in driving economic development in middle and low-income countries, raising concerns about equitable access to this transformative technology. 

This said, the elephant in the room, i.e., the sudden emergence of DeepSeek, suggested that, in the AI race, the tortoise could indeed catch the hare, offering hope that the Global South (or anyone else) won’t necessarily be left behind. 

The rise of European AI: A €200 billion investment announced by the EU Commission

Everyone agreed at the Summit that 2025 was not the year for new AI regulations: French President Macron, in his speech, called it a “wake-up call,” emphasizing the need to simplify the rules and cut red tape or risk being left behind, citing the AI-assisted rebuilding of Notre Dame as an example of how it can be done. He also reported that the private sector was investing €109 billion to support AI development in France, a major step forward.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was equally ambitious: She unveiled Europe’s AI vision, emphasizing the need for a clear strategy and decisive action to establish Europe as “a leading AI continent.”

Like Macron, von der Leyen called for cutting red tape and aligning national regulations among the 27 members of the European Union. She stressed the importance of a distinctive European approach based on investing in scientific strengths, collaboration between researchers, and investing in AI factories and gigafactories. She announced a €200 billion investment plan in European AI, dubbed “InvestAI, ” which combines public and private investments to boost and deploy AI research and infrastructure across Europe. 

While EU member states are invited to allocate funds from designated cohesion budgets, initial financing will come from existing EU programs for digital initiatives, including the Digital Europe Programme and InvestEU. In particular, there will be a €20 billion European fund to develop large-scale AI “gigafactories” across the EU.   

These facilities will be designed for the training of extremely complex AI models that require enormous computing power,  with applications ranging from medical breakthroughs to scientific research. Each gigafactory will have around 100,000 advanced AI chips, which is four times as many as in current AI facilities.  This initiative is seen as a move to enable scientists and companies to develop the most advanced large AI models. 

Contrasting approaches to AI: The US and UK declined to sign a declaration on AI safety promoted by the EU Commission

The summit also highlighted the contrasting approaches to AI regulation. Noteworthy is the refusal of both the US and UK to sign an international declaration on AI safety promoted by the EU at the summit, citing concerns about its potential impact on innovation and national security.

This should come as no surprise. Trump set the tone for deregulation signing, on his first day in office, an executive order dismantling the Biden administration AI regulations. Vice President JD Vance, in his intervention at the Summit, warned European leaders against heavily regulating U.S. tech companies and argued that excessive efforts by the European Union to regulate artificial intelligence could stymie its growth. 

Here is his opening salvo against Europe and a (not too-veiled) warning to China: 

The AI race is far from over: What Europe could do (if it sets its mind to it)

While the US and China currently lead the pack, the AI race is far from over.

Europe is determined to carve its own path, emphasizing a human-centric and collaborative approach. As von der Leyen said, the planned new AI gigafactories could replicate the enormously successful CERN story.

It’s worth briefly recalling that story: CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research, established in 1954 and based in Geneva, operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. It has achieved numerous milestones in the field of particle physics, including the discovery of the Higgs boson, a major breakthrough in our understanding of the universe. And it has also been responsible for other important discoveries, such as the W and Z bosons, which are responsible for the weak nuclear force. Finally, CERN has also made significant contributions to the development of the World Wide Web.

CERN’s success can be attributed to a number of factors, including its world-class facilities, its talented researchers, and its commitment to collaboration. And that is what the EU wants to replicate. 

Moreover, the sudden rise of DeepSeek demonstrates that if China could beat the US in the AI race, why not India next? And indeed, one may well expect that the whole of the Global South has the potential to become a major player, provided digital access is given to all, thus leveling the playing field.

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This article was originally published on IMPAKTER. Read the original article.