France, EU promise to cut red tape on AI

PARIS — Europe will cut back on regulation to make it easier for artificial intelligence to flourish in the region, French President Emmanuel Macron told an AI summit in Paris on Monday, urging investment in the European Union — and more specifically in France.

The EU's digital chief Henna Virkkunen also promised that the bloc would simplify its rules and implement them in a business-friendly way. As United States President Donald Trump has torn up his predecessor's AI guardrails to boost US competitiveness, pressure has built on the EU to pursue a lighter-touch approach to AI regulation to help keep European companies in the tech race.

"We will simplify," Macron said. "It's very clear we have to resynchronize with the rest of the world."

Using the example of the Notre-Dame cathedral, which was rebuilt in record time after a devastating fire, thanks to special, simplified regulation, Macron said, "The Notre-Dame approach will be adopted for data centers, for authorization to go to the market, for AI and attractiveness."

Not everyone in Paris agreed with taking a lighter-touch approach to AI regulation.

"What I worry about is that ...there will be pressures from the US and elsewhere to weaken the EU's AI Act and weaken those existing protections," said Brian Chen, policy director at Data & Society, a nonprofit in the US state of Maryland.

Trump's early moves on AI have underscored how far the strategies to regulate AI in the US and the EU have diverged.

And many at the two-day summit pushed the EU to soften its own rule book.

"Europe's productivity is dependent on using this emerging technology," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said.

In an interview with Reuters, Virkkunen said she had gotten the message.

"I agree with industries on the fact that now, we also have to look at our rules, that we have too much overlapping regulation," she said.

"We will cut red tape and the administrative burden from our industries," she said.

Last year, EU lawmakers approved the bloc's AI Act, the world's first comprehensive set of rules governing the technology.

On Tuesday, the second day of the summit, world leaders gathered for the plenary session, as US willingness to sign onto a statement championing sustainable AI remained in question.

Hours after Macron declared France was in the AI race and Europe was eager for business, representatives of nearly 100 countries, including China, India and the US, prepared to meet and determine if competing national interests could be reconciled.

'Unique opportunity'

According to Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would announce a new AI strategy for the bloc that "will be a unique opportunity for Europe to accelerate, to simplify our regulations, to deepen the single market and to invest as well in computing capacities".

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had this message for guests at the summit dinner on Monday.

"I urge European companies to join forces for a strong joint effort toward AI made in Europe," Scholz said in prepared remarks seen by Reuters.

Meanwhile, France hopes that world leaders at the summit will agree to a joint, nonbinding text that says the AI revolution should be inclusive and sustainable.

The draft declaration, seen by Reuters, laid out priorities that included "avoiding market concentration" and "making AI sustainable for people and the planet".

However, it was unclear whether the US would be supportive.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance, making his first major policy speech since taking office last month, warned on Tuesday that "excessive regulation" in the AI industry will kill the rapidly growing industry just as it is taking off.

Vance's address challenged Europe's regulatory approach to AI and its moderation of content on Big Tech platforms, underscoring the divergence between the US and its allies on AI governance.

With the global public both excited and worried about the power of AI, von der Leyen said, "AI needs the confidence of the people and has to be safe."

Separately, one early outcome from the summit was the launch of Current AI, a partnership of countries such as France and Germany and industry players, including Google and Salesforce.

With an initial $400 million investment, the partnership will spearhead public-interest projects such as making high-quality data for AI available and investing in open-source tools. It is aiming for up to $2.5 billion in capital over five years.

Current AI founder Martin Tisne told Reuters that a public interest focus is necessary to avoid AI having downsides as social media has had. "We have to have learned the lessons," he said.

Agencies - Xinhua