Paris, AI Action Summit: the European Commission presents InvestAI, the 200 billion investment for European AI 

Il Paris AI Summit, known as AI Action Summit, marked a pivotal moment in the global debate on the future of AI and its regulation. Organized by the French President Emmanuel Macron, The event was attended by political leaders, technology experts and representatives of the largest companies in the sector, as Sam altman by OpenAI, Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Half Hassabis by Google DeepMind.

The main objective of the summit was to discuss a shared strategy to foster the development of artificial intelligence in Europe., with a particular focus on the simplification of rules and investments in the sector.

InvestAI: €200 billion for European leadership in AI

During the summit, the European Commission presented InvestAI, an ambitious investment plan of 200 billion euros, defined as the Cern of AIThe initiative, promoted as European AI Champions Initiative, is a public-private partnership involving over 60 European companies and has theaim of making Europe competitive with the United States and China.

According to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, AI must be regulated to ensure safety and transparency, but at the same time it is necessary to simplify the rules to avoid slowing down innovation. "The purpose of AI Act – explained von der Leyen – is to provide a single set of rules for the whole European Union, instead of 27 different national regulations, I know we need to make things simpler and reduce bureaucracy and we will do that".

The resources will be allocated to the development of trustworthy AI, with particular attention to gigafactories for strengthen European technological infrastructure and promote innovative startups in the sector.

Emmanuel Macron's positions

The French president Emmanuel Macron stressed the urgency of cutting red tape and accelerating innovation on the European continent. "If we want growth, jobs and progress, we must allow innovators to innovate, builders to build and developers to develop.", he has declared.

Macron also stressed the importance of developing artificial intelligence “at the service of humanity“, hoping for a balanced regulation that guarantees safety without discouraging investments.

The Environmental and Social Impact of AI

Among the issues addressed during the summit, there was also theenvironmental impact of artificial intelligence occupied an important space. Anne Bouverot, special envoy for AI, has highlighted that data center energy consumption could increaseand 160% in the next five years.

On the social frontChristy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union, warned of the risks of inequality, underlining the need to involve workers in the decision-making process relating to the adoption of new technologies.

The Pope Francesco sent a message to the summit, reiterating the need to maintain human control over AI decisions to protect human dignity and prevent manipulation.

US and UK do not sign final declaration

Despite numerous agreements, the summit ended on a note of disagreement: The United States and the United Kingdom refused to sign the final declaration, which included a commitment to “open, inclusive and transparent” AI development.

The main motivation was the perception of excessive regulation, which was considered contrary to national interests., and the question of relations with China, which instead signed the declaration together with India and the main member states of the European Union

The Future of AI in Europe: Balancing Regulation and Innovation

Il Paris AI Action Summit Review clearly shows that the Europa wants to be a protagonist in the development of artificial intelligence, but is also aware of the challenges that this technology brings.

The key words of the summit – simplification of rules and targeted investments – represent the path indicated for making Europe more globally competitive, without sacrificing human rights and sustainability.

The game is open and the The confrontation between Europe, the United States and China will continue to shape the future of technological innovation in the next years.