New Delhi: The US and the UK were notable absentees from the statement on “inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet”, a declaration signed by 60 countries and organisations, including India, China, France and the European Union (EU), at the Paris Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit held on 10-11 February.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the summit along with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The summit statement highlights the sharp divergence between the EU and US on the development of critical AI technologies.
“AI is developing at an unprecedented scale and speed. And being adopted and deployed even faster. There is also a deep inter-dependence across borders. Therefore, there is a need for collective global efforts to establish governance and standards that uphold our shared values, address risks and build trust,” said Modi in his opening remarks at the summit Tuesday.
However, the collective global efforts spearheaded by the French at the AI summit faced the double blow of the US and the UK deciding to not sign the final statement. The first global AI summit had been hosted by the UK in London in 2023. India will host the next AI summit.
The final communiqué from the Paris summit states: “We recognise the need for inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues and cooperation on AI governance. We underline the need for a global reflection integrating inter alia questions of safety, sustainable development, innovation, respect of international laws including humanitarian law and human rights law and the protection of human rights, gender equality, linguistic diversity, protection of consumers and of intellectual property rights.”
The signatories agreed to ensure that AI technologies are “open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy, taking into account international frameworks for all”.
The Paris gathering saw participation from a number of global leaders from both the political and business spheres and the summit has been a pet project of the French President, who has been spearheading the global conversation surrounding AI.
The development of AI has been primarily headed by American firms, while China in recent weeks has showcased its ability to offer cheaper AI alternatives such as DeepSeek.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance represented the Trump administration at the summit, in his first trip overseas since the inauguration of the new US administration last month.
Other leaders present at the summit included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the new Prime Minister (taoiseach) of Ireland Micheál Martin, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Google’s Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman were some of the industry leaders present at the summit. The leaders and business heads had an official dinner Monday evening.
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US & UK’s positions on global governance of AI
Vance, in his first overseas appearance, took aim at the EU’s AI regulations, urging European governments to take a step back from “excessive regulation” of the sector, just as it is poised to take off.
“The United States of America is the leader in AI, and our administration plans to keep that. The AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety. It will be won by building,” said Vance in his address to the summit.
“This administration will not be the one to snuff out the start-ups and the grad students, producing some of the most ground-breaking applications of artificial intelligence,” he added.
While criticising Europe for its digital regulations, and promising to keep the US open for innovation, Vance raised the spectre of “hostile foreign adversaries” weaponising AI to rewrite history and censor speech, while offering no view on how to prevent such actions.
🇺🇸@VP JD Vance speaks at the AI Summit in Paris:
"Hostile foreign adversaries have weaponized AI software to rewrite history, surveil users, and censor speech… I want to be clear – this Administration will block such efforts, full stop." pic.twitter.com/WvEzxQxQT8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 11, 2025
Vance’s address came just hours after Trump signed into an executive order raising tariffs on steel imports to 25 percent, a measure which will impact a number of agreements signed between European nations and the US.
Another major country to skip signing the final communiqué from the summit is the UK.
London believes the statement in Paris did not go far enough in addressing global governance of AI and the impact of the technology on national security, according to media reports.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not attend the summit, sending technology secretary Pete Kyle instead.
The UK had spearheaded the AI Safety Summit in 2023, under Starmer’s predecessor Rishi Sunak. The 2023 summit had found support from the previous US administration under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Modi also met with Vance on the margins of the summit, where he handed over gifts to the latter’s son to mark his birthday.
Had a wonderful meeting with US @VP @JDVance and his family. We had a great conversation on various subjects. Delighted to join them in celebrating the joyous birthday of their son, Vivek! pic.twitter.com/gZpmt1jg5M
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 11, 2025
It was the first meeting between Modi and a senior official from the US administration, on the eve of his trip to the US Wednesday. Modi will be in the nation for a two-day visit on Wednesday and Thursday, and will hold discussions with US President Donald Trump.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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