Here's what has been announced at the AI Action Summit

It’s been a busy week in Paris as the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit ramps up. 

The two-day summit brought together global leaders, technology industry executives, and scientists to discuss AI’s impact on international security, economics, and governance. 

The summit, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, takes place as countries such as the US and China race for AI dominance. 

The event is also an occasion to announce new partnerships, foundations, and projects. 

Euronews Next takes a look at some of the major announcements that have come in the last few days ahead and during the AI Action Summit. 

€150 billion for 'AI Champions'

A group of 20 major corporations, firms, and startups rallied behind a plan to invest €150 billion in European AI over the next five years. 

The initiative, led by venture capitalist firm General Catalyst, wants to bridge the gap between investors and startups to "unlock Europe’s full potential in AI". 

The group will also be working with the European Commission to "create a drastically simplified AI regulatory framework," with a discussion set with "a select group of CEOs," to start strategising on accelerating AI adoption. 

"By seizing this moment, working with greater intention, and embracing deep collaboration, Europe can seize a generational opportunity by leading in applied AI, integrating it into our industrial base to boost productivity, resilience, and economic sovereignty," Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, managing director of General Catalyst, said in a statement. 

More than 60 European companies have signed on to the initiative, including chipmaker ASML, Airbus, Mistral AI, Siemens, Spotify, Volkswagen, and L’Oreal Group. 

New public interest initiatives

Macron launched Current AI on Tuesday with an initial $400 million (€387 million) investment from the French government, philanthropists, and industry partners. 

According to a statement, the public interest foundation will “reshape” the AI landscape by expanding access to datasets, investing in open-source tools to make AI more transparent, and measuring AI’s social and environmental impact. 

"We have a critical window to shape the future of artificial intelligence," Martin Tisné, the founder of Current AI, said in a statement.

"AI has the power to transform access to jobs, healthcare, and education for the better, but only if we act now. Current AI will drive a shift towards open, people-first technologies".

Eleven state governments, including EU members France, Germany, Slovakia, Finland, and Switzerland, are backing the project.  

Another non-profit, the Robust Open Online Safety Tools (ROOST) initiative, debuted on Monday.

According to a statement, the initiative brings together tech leaders to develop and provide free, open-source safety tools to public and private organisations. 

The initiative will also make it easier to report online child sexual abuse material and will use the large language models that train AI systems to put in place "safety infrastructure".

The NGO has support from the founders of Discord, OpenAI, Roblox, and other foundations. 

At the end of the summit, six data authorities signed a joint declaration to share information and work together to develop clear legal standards around how personal data is collected and used by AI systems.

It also asks that anyone building an AI system should include data and privacy protections in its design.

The data authorities note that risks to personal data and privacy include algorithmic discrimination, disinformation and AI hallucinations.

Mistral and Helsing team up for AI in defence

A new partnership was announced at the summit on Monday between French start-up Mistral AI and Helsing, a European defence technology company, who will work together on AI systems in defence. 

A press release said the joint project will work on so-called vision-language-action models that will help defence platforms "understand their environment, communicate naturally with operators, and allow for faster, more reliable decisions in complex scenarios".  

Helsing already uses AI in its military technology, including in strike drones deployed in Ukraine. 

"Europe needs to assert its strength as a geopolitical actor, and AI leadership is the key to that strength," Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of Helsing, said in a statement.

Macron pledges €109 billion for Europe’s 'Stargate'

One announcement made before the conference is Macron’s declaration that his country’s AI private sector will receive a dedicated €109 billion in the "coming years". 

Macron told French broadcaster France 2 that the investment is the "equivalent for France of what the United States announced with Stargate," referring to US President Donald Trump’s $500 billion (€484.5 billion) AI private investment project announced in his first few weeks on the job. 

Part of this funding includes a previously made deal with the United Arab Emirates to foot the bill for an amount between €30 and €50 billion to build a data centre campus that would be the largest in Europe, Le Monde reported. 

Canadian investment firm Brookfield also announced a €20 billion investment in AI infrastructure in France. 

French companies, including telecommunications firms Iliad and Orange, and Thales, an aerospace and defence group, are also contributing.