Paris AI Action Summit: What should we expect this week?

In this global environment of conflicting views and priorities, the AI Action Summit, of which India is the co-chair, is expected to provide a forward-looking roadmap that will help innovate AI while keeping human dignity and values in mind

By Dr. Avik Sarkar and Kashyap Kompella

Published: Feb 10, 2025 01:37:56 PM IST

Updated: Feb 10, 2025 01:47:19 PM IST

The Grand Palais on the eve of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, in Paris, on February 9, 2025. Image: Gonzalo Fuentes / POOL / AFP

The global AI ecosystem is already worth trillions of dollars and AI is becoming integral to global prosperity and security. Each country has its own, unique AI strategy and roadmap, but all have a shared interest in governance and collaboration. The AI Action Summit taking place in France from February 10-12, 2025, is a global AI diplomacy event. Along with France, India is the summit’s co-chair and PM Narendra Modi will be joining French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The entire technology and AI community will be watching for the declarations and policy indications that come from this event.

National AI strategies are constantly evolving. From 2017 to 2021, several countries developed initial national AI strategies that highlighted their vision and roadmap. The National Strategy of the US –"Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence," laid the roadmap for the country in 2019. On similar lines, China’s “Artificial Intelligence 2.0” goal was for China to be the world leader in AI by 2030. Other countries like the UK, Russia, Japan, Singapore, and so on, followed similar playbooks.

Singapore and South Korea have adopted commendable measures on skilling. In Singapore, every adult above the age of 25 is provided with a learning account and free credits to take up AI courses with guaranteed internships on the completion of those courses. South Korea aims to have 50,000-plus students specialising in data science and Artificial Intelligence.

The national AI strategies of the two co-chairs of the Paris Summit, France (March 2018) and India (June 2018) have distinctive features.

The national strategy of France – “AI for Humanity,” talked about research collaboration and national progress. What stood out was the focus on developing ethical standards and frameworks for AI and measuring the environmental impact of AI applications and models. The French AI strategy also highlighted the need for a higher level of inclusivity and diversity in AI by increasing the participation of women in computer science education.

India’s AI Strategy, named “AI for All” identified the need to adopt AI globally while acknowledging that there is a huge AI skills gap globally. India has long been the IT Services central of the world and through its AI strategy, offered to serve as the AI garage of the world. Today, technology services companies and global capability centers (GCCs) are implementing AI for companies across the globe.

In November 2023, the UK convened the AI Safety Summit, with 29 countries signing the AI Safety Declaration, including countries like China, the US, and India. The second summit was in South Korea in May 2024.

The third summit in Paris comes at a critical juncture for the global AI ecosystem. The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, the world’s first AI-specific regulation, was enacted in August 2024, and the law’s first provisions went into effect on February 2, 2025.

Meanwhile, there is a cloud of uncertainty about AI regulation in the US. The US policy on AI governance took shape through a presidential executive order in October 2023 byt revoked last month. President Donald Trump recently deprioritised aspects related to diversity and inclusion – a key point for wider participation in the technology world.

Also read: EU sets out guidance on banning harmful AI uses

The US, represented by Vice President J.D. Vance at the Paris Summit, is currently seeking public inputs for a new AI Action plan, which is expected to be finalised by mid-2025. The world would look at their commitments on this and other areas related to AI safety and governance.

Generative AI has taken the world by storm in the last couple of years and US Big Tech has poured billions of dollars into the development of Large Language Models (LLMs), hyperscale data centers, and power plants to meet the surging demand for electricity. It seemed like you need really deep pockets to compete in AI. But in a move that has taken industry experts by surprise, Chinese company DeepSeek released its high-performance model trained at a much lower cost than US Big Tech. While there are debates about the actual total cost incurred to train the AI, it has been released as open source and reversed the narratives on the economics of AI.

Not big investments, but is frugal innovation the path forward?

The AI ecosystem in India seems poised at a tipping point. A national AI computing facility, envisioned in the 10,000-crore IndiaAI mission is fast taking shape. There is an urgency to build up the national semiconductor industry. Data center capacity is expected to nearly double between 2024 to 2026.

AI can have a disruptive impact on jobs if there is large-scale automation. The recent Economic Survey analysed the potential impact of AI on labour markets and stressed on the importance of ramping up institutional capacity to deal with any such mass job loss scenarios. There is also an urgent need to equip students with valuable skills for the future. In the latest budget, the Finance Minister has announced an AI center of excellence for education, with an initial outlay of Rs 500 crore. This is a good start.

AI is important not only for economic growth or scientific progress. It is also vital for languages and cultures thriving in the digital age. Indian AI applications and startups are beginning to bloom and ensuring their success in the long-term should be an important goal.

Both India and France have carved distinctive paths for their nations to focus on innovation and responsible adoption of AI simultaneously through their AI strategies. In this global environment of conflicting views and priorities, the AI Action Summit is expected to provide a forward-looking roadmap that will help innovate AI while keeping human dignity and values in mind.

Dr. Avik Sarkar is Visiting Faculty at Indian School of Business working in the areas of Data, Emerging Technology and Public Policy. Dr. Sarkar was Officer on Special Duty at NITI Aayog.

Kashyap Kompella, is an AI industry analyst and AI Governance expert. He is the author of two books on AI, the most recent one is, “Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers”

[This article has been reproduced with permission from the Indian School of Business, India]