Paris AI Summit Kicks Off This Week, Draws World Leaders & Tech Entrepreneurs

Paris: Starting from the early days of this week, France will be the centre of the artificial intelligence (AI) debate, with the official beginning of the third edition of the AI Action Summit. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is co-hosting the summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, in an effort to involve more global actors in AI development.According to Ethiopian News Agency, the geopolitics of artificial intelligence will be in focus at this major summit in Paris where world leaders, technology executives, and experts will try to hammer out agreements on guiding the development of the rapidly advancing technology. They are also anticipated to discuss ways of safely embracing artificial intelligence at a time of mounting resistance to heavy-handed red tape that businesses say stifles innovation.It's the latest in a series of global dialogues around AI governance with two previous editions held in the UK in 2023, and a smaller gathering in Seoul, South Korea, last year. It also comes amid the meteoric rise in popularity of the low-cost Chinese foundational model DeepSeek, which has shaken up the industry.The Paris Summit aims to achieve three major objectives: provide access to independent, safe, and reliable AI to a wide range of users; develop AI that is more environmentally friendly; and ensure global governance of artificial intelligence that is both effective and inclusive. The Summit will focus on five major themes, including public service AI, future of work, innovation and culture, trust in AI, and global governance of AI.The summit is expected to announce a key outcome-a foundation that will look at AI in the public interest to cater to the needs of the Global South.