Emmanuel Macron hosts AI summit, while EU braces for Trump tariffs – Europe live

What’s on the AI Action Summit’s agenda in Paris

Dan Milmo

Global technology editor

On safety versus opportunities:

I think the agenda is definitely different compared with the conference of Bletchley Park in 2023, safety isn’t at the forefront at all. The conference is split in sort of five themes, which are international governance, trust, innovation and culture, work and making AI work in the public interest. So it’s going to be, I think, a more positive summit in terms of its agenda.

I just think the issue of safety, it won’t go away, because safety in AI encapsulates a lot of things. It goes from biased outputs to it being used to create misinformation to systems evading control, which is a bit more of a medium to long term thing, I guess so it’ll still be there in the background. But I think this summit will is definitely going to focus on different issues.

On China:

I think the importance of China being involved in any discussions about a global effort on making sure that AI stays safe and is deployed responsibly, I think it underlines the fact that China really needs to be in those conversations. …

This is a time of geopolitical tension. We’ve seen Donald Trump has imposed tarrifs on China, and obviously there’s been retaliation from Beijing and in that sort of context, it’s difficult to imagine there being a willingness to down tools in one corner of this fight and collaborate over AI.

Listen to Dan’s comments in full in the latest episode of our Science Weekly podcast:

AI Action Summit in Paris under way

Jakub Krupa

You can follow the latest in our live stream at the top and below.

I will bring you all the latest news lines here.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke about the threat of US tariffs during last night’s televised debate with his main rival Friedrich Merz ahead of the federal election on 23 February.

He said the EU was “prepared” to respond and “ready to act within one hour,” but insisted that any reaction needs to be at the EU level, noting Germany’s particular vulnerability to any US tariffs.

This is what he said in full:

We’re prepared, obviously, with all diplomatic caution, but we’re ready to act within one hour as the European Union.

It’s important to say that our trade policy is an EU competence, and it’s one of the reasons why we should insist that we stick to these common rules with the EU.

If the US have tariff policy, then there’s going to be one export nation that is very much going to suffer from that, and that is Germany. This is why we have to ensure that there is solidarity with tariff policy,

Looking at other EU responses, French president Emmanuel Macron also hit at Trump’s plans to impose tariffs against the EU.

Speaking in English to CNN, he said:

Is the European Union your first problem? No, I don’t think so. Your first problem is China, so you should focus on the first problem.

Europe is an ally for you. If you want Europe to be engaged on more investment, security, defence, if you want Europe to develop, which I think is in the interest of the US, you should not hurt European economies by threatening them with tariffs.

France’s foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot went further this morning, saying directly that the EU would counter in kind and retaliate against any tariffs imposed by the US.

“There is no hesitation when it comes to defending our interests,” he said in an interview with TF1.

Responding to Trump’s comments on aluminium and steel tariffs overnight, the EU has just said that it had not received any official notification yet, but insisted there was no justification of any such move and it would be ready to respond if needed.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said:

We will not respond to broad announcements without details or written clarification. The EU sees no justification for the imposition of tariffs on its exports. We will react to protect the interests of European businesses, workers and consumers from unjustified measures.

But they added:

In general: The imposition of tariffs would be unlawful and economically counterproductive, especially given the deeply integrated production chains the EU and U.S. established through transatlantic trade and investment.

Tariffs are essentially taxes. By imposing tariffs, the U.S. would be taxing its own citizens, raising costs for business, and fuelling inflation. Moreover, tariffs heighten economic uncertainty and disrupt the efficiency and integration of global markets.

Morning opening: AI, trade, and Ukraine set to dominate the week

Jakub Krupa

Imagine you are a European leader. On your to-do list for this week, you have (at least) three issues:

• How to navigate an almost existential discussion on how to deal with the rapid expansion of AI

• How to avoid the looming threat of global trade wars

• How to influence US plans to hold secret negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine

No pressure.

First, we are in Paris for Emmanuel Macron’s AI Action Summit.

What is at stake during the two-day meeting, starting today, is probably best captured on the front page of the French daily Libération this morning, with Emmanuel Macron desperately trying to catch up with the US and Chinese robots.

Speaking to the CNN last week, Macron said that Europe was “not in the race today,” and warned it was seriously “lagging behind” competitors.

So the Paris summit will be an opportunity for him to show France and Europe are serious about joining the AI race, and to have discussions with investors and global leaders about what’s next for the rapidly emerging technology. With the EU’s AI Act now in implementation, lots of questions still remain about the bloc’s approach to the technology’s development and regulation.

In total, Macron and his co-host Indian prime minister Narenda Modi will welcome about 80 leaders, including US vice-president JD Vance (in his first trip to Europe since inauguration), Chinese vice premier Zhang Gouqing as well as top execs such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

On Sunday, Macron announced €109bn of investment in AI in France in the coming years, expected to come from the United Arab Emirates, US and Canadian investment funds, and French companies. He said it was “the equivalent for France of what the US has announced with Stargate,” the $500-billion US scheme led by ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

Only last week, France’s Mistral AI also launched its AI assistant Le Chat – you can see the nod to its French roots there – which now tops the list of most popular apps in Europe.

Over the weekend, the president was keen to present himself as a fan of AI posting a video in which he appears, through the magic of deepfake technologies as a singer, an actor, a rapper and others. “It’s pretty well done, it made me laugh,” he said.

But it’s definitely not all laughs in Europe.

Last night, US president Donald Trump once again raised the prospect of imposing tariffs on all aluminium and steel imports, which would also hit the European Union. EU leaders will be frantically making calls this morning to figure out what it all means for them and how, and when, to respond.

Trump’s No.2 JD Vance will be in Europe most of this week, first attending the Paris summit, and later taking part in the Munich Security Conference in Germany, meaning there will be some scope for informal discussions behind the scenes.

But with their focus on putting America First, how much will Trump and Vance be willing to cut deals with the EU as they focus on their main aims of radically reshaping global trade and trying to bring to an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

It’s going to be lively. Buckle up.

It’s Monday, 10 February 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.