World leaders, tech giants to descend on AI summit in Paris

Paris: Major world leaders are meeting for an AI summit in Paris, where challenging diplomatic talks are expected as tech titans fight for dominance in the fast-moving technology industry.

Heads of state, top government officials, CEOs and scientists from around 100 countries are participating in the two-day international summit from Monday. High-profile attendees include US Vice-President JD Vance, on his first overseas trip since taking office, and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.

“We’re living a technology and scientific revolution we’ve rarely seen,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday.

France and Europe must seize the opportunity because AI “will enable us to live better, learn better, work better, care better and it’s up to us to put this artificial intelligence at the service of human beings”, he said.

The summit will give some European leaders a chance to meet Vance for the first time. The 40-year-old vice president was just 18 months into his time as Ohio’s junior senator when Donald Trump picked him as his running mate.

Vance was joined by his wife Usha and their three children — Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel — for the trip to Europe. They were greeted in France on Monday morning by Manuel Valls, the minister for Overseas France, and the US Embassy’s charge d’affaires, David McCawley.

Before the trip, Vance made it clear that he intended to use the opportunity for frank discussions with European allies.

“At the AI Summit, the main reason I’m going is actually to have some private conversations with the world leaders who are also going to be there,” Vance told Breitbart News. “I think there’s a lot that some of the leaders who are present at the AI summit could do to, frankly — bring the Russia-Ukraine conflict to a close, help us diplomatically there — and so we’re going to be focused on those meetings in France.”

On Tuesday, Vance will have a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, with discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East on the agenda.