President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that France would cut through bureaucratic hurdles to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, aiming to position Europe as a key player in the global AI race. Speaking at a high-profile summit in Paris, he emphasized the need for swift action to harness the technology’s potential benefits.
Co-hosted with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the summit seeks to establish a framework for governing AI as major world powers compete for leadership in this rapidly evolving field.
Referring to France’s ambitious restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral after the 2019 fire, Macron outlined his approach to AI projects.
“We will adopt the Notre Dame de Paris strategy,” he told an audience of tech executives and political leaders at the Grand Palais.
“We showed the world that when we commit to a clear timeline, we can deliver. You decide, you streamline all the procedures, and someone takes charge,” he said, explaining that this approach would apply to data centers, AI product approvals, and overall business competitiveness.
Earlier in the event, key figures highlighted both the economic promise of AI and its potential to widen gender pay disparities.
World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala cited estimates suggesting that “near-universal adoption of AI… could boost global trade by up to 14 percentage points” beyond current trends. However, she warned that fragmented regulations on AI and data flows could negatively impact trade and economic output.
Meanwhile, International Labour Organization head Gilbert Houngbo pointed out that AI is disproportionately replacing clerical jobs, which are largely held by women, potentially widening the gender pay gap despite evidence that AI is currently creating more jobs than it eliminates.
‘Plug baby, plug!’
The summit brings together political heavyweights such as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, alongside top tech leaders including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Pichai described AI as “the biggest technological shift of our lifetimes” and emphasized the opportunity to make the technology widely accessible from the outset.
Macron, keen to showcase France’s AI ambitions, repeatedly underscored the country’s commitment, highlighting plans for a €109 billion ($113 billion) investment in the sector in the coming years.
