The Artificial Intelligence Action Summit took place on the 10th and 11th of February, 2025 in Paris, France. Co-chaired by France and India, it aimed to recognize the development of artificial intelligence and regulate it to continue its growth in a sustainable, ethical, and safe way. With over 100 participating countries, including Türkiye, and more than 1,000 attendees ranging from reputable CEOs to government officials, the event provided a crucial framework for global AI agreements. The final declaration outlined diverse perspectives and strategies for nations to thrive in the digital era, all sharing the common goal of leveraging AI for societal progress.
The summit aimed to assess the significant impact of artificial intelligence across industries and explore ways to ensure sustainable and ethical innovation. The participating countries collaborated to foster innovation while addressing the social and environmental impacts of emerging AI technologies. Both developed and developing countries were considered in the policies made, promoting inclusivity and bridging digital divides. The final declaration, Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet, was signed by 58 countries, including India, France, Germany, and China. By signing the declaration, these countries agreed to terms that ensured transparency and management of AI to make it sustainable, ethical, and accessible. However, two major countries, the US and UK, attended the summit but didn’t sign the declaration.
The US cited its reason for not signing the declaration as being the amount of excessive control, which could deteriorate innovation rather than encourage it. US Vice President JD Vance, who attended the conference, said that creating policies that promote innovation should be prioritized over those that promote safety. On the other hand, the UK mentioned concerns over the impact of AI on national security and lack of clarity on global governance. Türkiye, although an attendee, also didn’t sign the declaration for reasons that haven’t been shared with the public yet.
France, being the host, took center stage during the conference. President Emmanuel Macron highlighted the importance of prioritizing AI in Europe, labeling the summit as a “wake-up call for European strategy”. He emphasized that Europe must take the opportunities presented and that France is focusing on making itself a leader in the industry amongst current leaders like the USA and China with a 109 billion euro investment budget in the upcoming years.
The summit came at a time of prominent AI-related conversations around the globe. The leader in the industry, which used to primarily be the USA, was impacted largely by the rise of the Chinese AI, Deepseek. Deepseek’s use of fewer resources and better performance impacted tech companies in the USA significantly, especially Nvidia. After Deepseek’s release, Nvidia lost 600 billion dollars in one day, making history as the largest one-day market value loss (Kopack). Some countries have limited citizen’s access to Deepseek, especially as it censored information regarding President Xi Jinping and the demonstrations at Tiananmen Square (McCarthy). The tool does not give any information regarding events considered sensitive to the country's history or threaten the ideology Chinese Communist Party.
Even though China joined the AI leadership amongst the USA, the States is not done competing. With an additional 500 billion dollars estimated to be invested over the 4 years, the US aims to regain its position as the prime leader. However, recent disputes between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, have received significant attention, highlighting internal conflicts within the industry. With Musk offering 97.4 billion dollars to buy OpenAI and Sam Altman’s sarcastic response of declining and offering 9.74 billion dollars to purchase Twitter, the technology industry is experiencing an unusual endeavor between two of its most well-known figures. The industry has further been impacted by recent allegations that the data of over 20 million people was leaked by OpenAI. This raised concerns in users, and underscored the necessity of ethical and safety policies. In early 2025, a cybercriminal under the name “emirking” claimed that they had the credentials of over 20 million OpenAI users for sale, implying that the AI tool was hacked. This claim was debunked after detailed investigations, which concluded that OpenAI was not hacked. However, users should remain cautious about protecting their data.
The final remarks of the summit were made by the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai. He reiterated the transformative power of artificial intelligence. The transformative potential of AI remains a topic of debate, influenced by the priorities and capabilities of different nations. Whilst some countries want to regulate and make sure these tools develop safely, others are interested in being the winners of a competitive industry. Some countries are not developed enough to prioritize AI, yet with the new policies, are pushed to begin developing.
Nonetheless, the artificial intelligence industry has already made significant progress, yet this is only the beginning. The future of AI systems comes from a balance between all key aspects such as development, sustainability, inclusion, ethics, and productive ambition.
Edited by: Derya Selin Yener