On February 6th, Paris hosted an international summit on Artificial Intelligence, driven by France and India’s initiative. The event drew over 1,500 participants, including political leaders, tech execs, and AI pioneers, to discuss the rapidly evolving field’s political and economic challenges. It marked the third such gathering, with around 100 heads of state in attendance.
At the closing of the summit on February 10th, French President Macron laid out his plan to supercharge AI development in France and Europe. He proposed a €109 billion investment, including a massive data center at an AI-focused campus that, according to the Élysée, will become Europe’s largest.
But there’s a catch: these investments largely rely on foreign and private sources, with the UAE alone contributing €50 billion—nearly half the total. Critics, like Cyrille Dalmont from the Thomas More Institute, raise concerns about the sovereignty implications. How can France control AI infrastructure and data if it’s so heavily funded by external players, including the UAE, Canada, and China, and indirectly by U.S. funds?
Macron’s push is a response to Trump’s own AI initiative, the “Stargate” program, which is estimated at €480 billion. Macron countered that, when adjusted for GDP, France’s investment will be proportionally larger. He touted this plan as a groundbreaking step, but Dalmont questions the long-term strategic risks of relying on foreign capital.
In his speech, Macron also promoted France’s low-carbon energy, notably nuclear power, to fuel AI infrastructure, contrasting it with Trump’s focus on hydrocarbons. “Just plug, baby, plug,” he quipped, flipping Trump’s “Drill, baby, drill” slogan, encouraging investors to leverage France’s nuclear energy potential as a clean and reliable power source for data centers.
Wrapping up, Macron called France’s ecosystem the best in Europe, setting the stage for Ursula von der Leyen’s upcoming announcements. Meanwhile, on February 11th, Macron met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Élysée Palace for a private lunch, during which trade tensions were on the table. Macron made it clear: “Your enemy is China, not Europe.”
