Paris AI Summit Prioritizes Growth Over Safety as US Advocates for Less Regulation

The prevailing sentiment at this week’s major artificial intelligence summit in Paris shifted from safety concerns to optimism, as U.S., French, and other global leaders voiced strong support for the AI industry. 

While disagreements emerged among nations—notably, the U.S. and U.K. did not endorse a final statement signed by 60 countries advocating for an inclusive and open AI sector—the summit’s focus differed significantly from its predecessor. Last year’s Seoul summit prioritized establishing boundaries for AI development due to concerns about both its potential benefits and risks. 

However, the Paris summit’s final statement omitted significant AI risks and mitigation strategies. In a Tuesday address, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stated: “I’m not here this morning to talk about AI safety, which was the title of the conference a couple of years ago. I’m here to talk about AI opportunity.” 

French President Emmanuel Macron, the summit host, also delivered a pro-business message, highlighting the global competition to lead in AI development. 

Once upon a time in Bletchley 

This emphasis on growth over safety contrasted sharply with the inaugural global AI summit at Bletchley Park in the U.K. in 2023. The “AI Safety Summit” (unlike the “AI Action Summit” in Paris) aimed to address AI’s potential dangers. 

The 2024 Seoul summit built upon this, securing voluntary safety pledges from major AI players including OpenAI, Google, Meta, and counterparts in China, South Korea, and the UAE. The 2025 Paris summit was initially planned to define international AI risk thresholds requiring mitigation.

Instead, Paris took a different direction. MIT professor and Future of Life Institute president Max Tegmark commented, “I think this was a real belly-flop…It almost felt like they were trying to undo Bletchley.”

AI safety-focused company Anthropic termed the event a “missed opportunity.”

The U.K., host of the first summit, declined to sign the Paris declaration citing a lack of concrete measures. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated, “We felt the declaration didn’t provide enough practical clarity on global governance, nor sufficiently address harder questions around national security and the challenge AI poses to it.”

Racing for an edge

This shift occurred amidst rapid advancements in AI. In the period leading up to the 2025 Summit, OpenAI released an “agent” model capable of research tasks at a graduate student level. 

Safety researchers demonstrated that the latest AI models can deceive developers and self-replicate to avoid modification. Many independent AI scientists concur with tech companies’ projections of superhuman-level AI within five years—potentially leading to catastrophic consequences if safety issues remain unresolved.

However, these concerns took a backseat as the U.S. strongly opposed regulation. Vance asserted that the Trump Administration “cannot and will not” tolerate foreign governments “tightening the screws on U.S. tech companies.” 

He criticized European regulations, including the AI Act and the Digital Services Act, characterizing them as overly restrictive, particularly regarding misinformation on social media. 

The Vice President, who enjoys substantial support from venture capitalists, clarified that his backing for large tech companies doesn’t extend to regulations hindering the growth of new AI startups. 

“To restrict [AI’s] development now would not only unfairly benefit incumbents in the space, it would mean paralysing one of the most promising technologies we have seen in generations,” Vance said. “When a massive incumbent comes to us asking for safety regulations, we ought to ask whether that safety regulation is for the benefit of our people, or whether it’s for the benefit of the incumbent.” 

Significantly, the Trump administration linked AI safety concerns to the Republican talking point of social media platforms’ restrictions on “free speech” in addressing misinformation.

With reporting by Tharin Pillay/Paris and Harry Booth/Paris