JD Vance Makes Debut Abroad as US Vice President at AI Summit in France
US Vice President JD Vance made his debut abroad at the artificial intelligence (AI) summit in Paris, where he pushed back against European censorship and promoted free speech.
Fostering AI Advances
The summit aims to foster AI advances in sectors like health, education, environment, and culture. A global public-private partnership named "Current AI" will be launched to support large-scale initiatives that serve the general interest.
Linda Griffin, vice president of public policy at Mozilla, said: "I see it as a norm-setting moment." Nick Reiners, senior geotechnology analyst at Eurasia Group, noted an opportunity to shape AI governance in a new direction by building this public interest AI instead.
Support for Initiatives Unclear
However, it remains unclear if the United States will support such initiatives. Nobel Prize winner Demis Hassabis, founder of Google's DeepMind research lab, said: "There's a lot of complicated questions to resolve" around issues like the ability to control AI systems and regulation.
France Announces AI Investments
French organizers are looking for the summit to ignite major investment announcements in Europe. Macron announced that France plans to announce AI private investments worth a total of 109 billion euros ($113 billion) over the coming years.
China Opposes Restricting Access to AI Tools
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun expressed opposition to any moves to restrict access to AI tools. He said that China advocates for open-source AI technology and promotes the accessibility of AI services to share the benefits of artificial intelligence with all countries.
India Co-Hosts Summit
Indian Prime Minister Modi is co-hosting the summit with Macron in an effort to involve more global actors in AI development and prevent the sector from becoming a US-China battle. Modi will travel on Wednesday with Macron to the southern French port city of Marseille to inaugurate an Indian Consulate there and visit the ITER nuclear research site.
France has become a key defense partner for India, with talks underway on New Delhi purchasing 26 Rafale fighter jets and three Scorpene submarines. Officials in India said that discussions are at the final phase and the deal could be inked in a few weeks.
Criticisms of US Policies
US Vice President JD Vance criticized European censorship, saying: "You've seen in Europe a really significant, and I think, frankly, an evil trend towards censorship." He also emphasized the importance of free speech, saying: "We want people to be able to speak their minds, and we believe that free and open debate is actually a good thing."
Leaders in Europe have been carefully watching Trump's recent statements on threats to impose tariffs on the European Union, take control of Greenland and his suggestion that Palestinians clear out of Gaza once the fighting in the Israel-Hamas conflict ends.