Heads of state and leading technologists will gather in Paris starting Monday for a high-stakes global gathering on the promises and perils of artificial intelligence. The gathering is part of a global race to find the best tools to take advantage of the exploding technology.
The U.S. and China are sending top officials to the summit as the technology rivals look to build support for their competing visions of a future where they each control critical technology.
The Trump administration’s view of AI standards and rules will become more apparent at the summit, which Vice President J.D. Vance will attend in his first trip abroad since Inauguration Day.
Soon after taking office, Mr. Trump trashed an AI executive order signed by President Biden. He issued a new order to develop a more assertive “AI Action Plan” without some of the “guardrails” Mr. Biden’s order tried to implement.
The plan’s goal is to “sustain and enhance America’s AI dominance,” according to the White House, which began soliciting public input for the plan Thursday. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said the plan will define federal priorities and prevent burdensome requirements from hindering innovation.
“The Trump administration is committed to ensuring the United States is the undeniable leader in AI technology,” said Lynne Parker, the office’s principal deputy director. “This AI Action Plan is the first step in securing and advancing American AI dominance.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are co-chairs of the summit. Some 80 nations are expected to send representatives to the third and, by far, biggest summit, which seeks a globally coordinated approach to AI development.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, the personal envoy of President Xi Jinping, is expected to lead China’s presence. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the vice premier’s presence is intended “to demonstrate China’s responsible attitude as a major country in the field of AI and its commitment to advancing the development and security of AI.”
“Through this summit, China looks forward to enhancing communication and exchanges with all sides, pooling consensus for cooperation and actively advancing the implementation of the U.N. Global Digital Compact,” the spokesman said at a press conference last week.
Mr. Lin said China would welcome countries to attend its 2025 World AI Conference in China to “shape an AI global governance framework based on broad consensus and promote AI for good and for all.”
International controversy surrounds the sudden rise in the popularity of China’s DeepSeek. The Chinese AI firm sent shock waves through markets worldwide last month when it advertised a model that claimed to be on par with that of U.S. market leader OpenAI and had been developed for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Much doubt persists about the actual cost of DeepSeek’s work, and skeptics inside the Trump administration and Silicon Valley’s private labs doubt the hype about the Chinese firm. Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick has accused DeepSeek of stealing American intellectual property to fashion its AI app, and OpenAI is among those reportedly investigating the potential thievery.
Last week, OpenAI announced an advanced tool called “deep research,” its answer to the DeepSeek buzz. OpenAI’s new AI agent promises to help users complete hours-long tasks in tens of minutes. Google released a “deep research” agent in December.
OpenAI is also a major part of the creation of the Stargate project, working to develop a company intending to invest $500 billion to build AI infrastructure in America. One day after taking office, Mr. Trump hosted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at the White House to announce the project.
The U.S. is counting on MGX, a government-created investment fund from the United Arab Emirates. OpenAI identified MGX as one of the initial funders of the $500 billion endeavor.
Mr. Macron reportedly told French media that the summit was about creating rules for the technology and its applications because “AI cannot be the Wild West.”
While saying the summit participants should not be “afraid of innovation,” Mr. Macron added, “There have to be rules. … There are all kinds of fields where we don’t want AI because we don’t want it creating discrimination or mass control in our society.”
The AI Action Summit website clearly states that its participants understand that no “single governance initiative” will oversee AI worldwide.
“The aim is clear: to build a consensus on the global governance framework for artificial intelligence, with and for all parties,” the website said.
Microsoft President Brad Smith, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and several representatives from OpenAI will speak at the summit.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.