Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than an industrial and technological revolution. It has the potential to bring about a profound paradigm shift in our societies, in how we relate to knowledge, to work, to information, to culture and even to language.
This means that artificial intelligence is not a neutral technology. It is a political and civic issue that requires intense international dialogue among the planet’s leaders, researchers, businesses and civil society.
Thus, France has shouldered the responsibility of building on the momentum generated by the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea and of hosting the AI Action Summit on 10 and 11 February 2025, which will gather nearly a hundred heads of state and of governments and a thousand civil society actors in Paris from about 100 countries.
The question we all face, as users around the world, as start-ups or large corporations, as researchers and as policy-makers, is ultimately a simple one: how do we get the AI transition right?
The stakes are sky-high: we must enable artificial intelligence to fulfil its initial promise of progress and empowerment in a context of shared trust that addresses the risks inherent to technological development.
Ahead of the Summit and its outcomes, we are focusing on three tangible priorities:
Firstly, access to AI must be guaranteed for everyone, so that everyone in the world can benefit and develop new ideas, to realize the full potential of the technologies. In order to reduce the growing digital gap and curb the excessive concentration of the artificial intelligence sector, we are launching a large-scale public interest AI initiative in order to foster the development and sharing of computing power, structured datasets, open tools and training for the talents of tomorrow. This project will be led by both public and private stakeholders.
Secondly, together we must prepare for the two major transitions of our time: the environmental transition and the technological transition. While artificial intelligence will, without a doubt, make a full contribution to fighting climate change and protecting ecosystems, it is currently on an untenable pathway when it comes to energy use. The latest forecasts suggest that the energy needs of the artificial intelligence sector will be ten times higher in 2026 than they were in 2023.
That is not sustainable. In response, an international and multi-stakeholder coalition for sustainable artificial intelligence will be launched at the summit, in order to deepen research into the technologies’ environmental impact, evaluate models on that basis, define new standards and step up green investment at every link in the value chain.
Lastly, we need to collectively design an effective and inclusive governance framework for artificial intelligence. In this respect, the first challenge is that of substance: the agenda of international AI governance must be broad and not only limited to ethics and safety issues. Other areas of key importance include the protection of fundamental freedoms, intellectual property, fighting market concentration and access to data.
The second challenge is that of method, which must be collective. Everybody talks about the inclusiveness of AI governance, but for the moment it is but a mirage. For example, only seven countries worldwide are truly participating in the major international AI initiatives, and 119 are totally absent from them. Moreover, private stakeholders and civil society also need to be closely involved in order to together define a common international artificial intelligence governance architecture.
France is not alone on the path to this Summit. More than 700 public and private partners, researchers and NGOs from across the world have been working towards its preparation for months. No subject will be skirted around: from the future of work to frugal AI, from the safety of models to innovation ecosystems, and from the need for linguistic – and therefore cultural – diversity to protection of privacy. We are counting on your support. You are all invited to accompany us on the path to the AI Action Summit so that together we can build, in an atmosphere of trust, an AI at the service of all, for a prosperous, more open and more inclusive world.
In Ghana, France is supporting the development of Artificial Intelligence, which is now a priority in the partnership between the Embassy of France and Ghana through the Equipe France Ghana – Artificial Intelligence Fund (FEF IA).
This FEF, led by researchers from KNUST, the Embassy of France, and French university partners, aims to support applied research to explore issues in key sectors of the local context in Ghana, such as health and agriculture.
This project aims to create an ecosystem around AI in order to familiarise populations with new practices and its applications in crucial sectors such as health, education and agriculture, to name a few.
It seeks to promote the development of responsible and inclusive artificial intelligence. By encouraging collaboration between France and Ghana, the project focuses on excellence in applied research, capacity building, and the application of AI technologies to solve problems linked to sustainable development.
The flagship activities of this FEF support the implementation of applied research projects on the one hand, and innovative young entrepreneurial projects, on the other.
