PM Modi to visit Paris Feb 10-11 to co-chair AI action summit

This will be Modi’s first visit to France in his third term, and a possible opportunity to meet US President Donald Trump if he, too, attends the AI summit. India will also hold bilateral engagements with President Macron and other leaders attending the summit.

The AI Action Summit, to be held at the Grand Palais, will be attended by Heads of State, leaders of international organisations, CEOs of small and large companies, academics, non-governmental organisations, artists and civil society members.

France is looking to build on the momentum generated by the UK and South Korea, which had organised the previous two summits in November 2023 and May 2024, respectively.

French officials said nearly 100 countries and over 1,000 private sector and civil society representatives from across the world will be represented in order to make this summit as inclusive as possible.

The Paris Summit, which is campaigning for “ethical, sustainable and inclusive AI”, will focus on five “main pillars” forming the basis of the preparatory work.

The first is “AI in the service of the general interest” or “the public interest”. The second is “the future of work” based on the principle that “the integration of artificial intelligence is transforming labour markets, job content, tasks and ways of working”.

The third pillar is “innovation and culture”, with the aim to “boost technological excellence in the service of innovation and artistic creation”. The fourth pillar is “trusted artificial intelligence”. And finally, the “global governance of AI”, the last point stemming from the four previous pillars.

The Paris Summit aims to define a “common ground for international AI governance” amid a “major risk of fragmentation”.