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In primer of International Summit on Artificial IntelligenceEmmanuel Macron presented in an interview with Indian journalist Palki Sharma Upadhyay (Firstpost) and Laurent Delahousse, an offensive vision to position France and Europe as major actors on the AI chessboard. Faced with the domination of the United States and China, the French president insisted on the need forInvest massively, structure digital sovereignty and supervise the risks inherent in AI.
Unprecedented financial mobilization
Emmanuel Macron announced a plan of 109 billion euros in private investments in AIa commitment of magnitude comparable to the American “Stargate” program of $ 500 billion. This is the largest mobilization of capital in France for this technology, with funding from international great funds, national actors and foreign powers such as the United Arab Emirates, which will invest between 30 and 50 billion euros in a IA campus on French territory.
At the heart of this strategy, infrastructure occupy a central place. AI is based on gigantic calculation capacities, requiring Data Centers of new generation. The Canadian Brookfield Fund will invest 20 billion euros To build several in France, including one in Cambrai. At the same time, Mistral aiFrench startup specializing in generative AI, has decided to set up its First data center in France. A strong signal for the national technological ecosystem, which the president wanted to underline:
“We have to be in the race. Before we know how we regulate, we must first say to ourselves: we, we want to be and we want to invent solutions, technologies. Otherwise, we will depend on the others. »»
The training of talents is another key axis of this mobilization. Today, 40,000 young people are trained each year for AI technologies In France. The objective is to reach 100,000 in the coming years. This project is partly based on international partnershipsespecially with Indiawhich forms one million engineers per year and becomes a strategic ally of France in this transformation.
Digital sovereignty and European leadership
Beyond investments, Emmanuel Macron pleads for a European technological autonomy. Europe cannot be content to consume developed innovations elsewhere. She must design her own models and impose her standards.
The president’s call to download Mistral ai rather than chatgpt is part of this logic. For him, the use of local technologies strengthens their competitiveness and allows them to gain performance against American and Chinese giants.
“Download the cat … which is done by Mistral, rather than chatgpt by Openai and others. When you download them, you help a European champion, a French champion, you create jobs here, but you will make them stronger. And that’s it, sovereignty. »»
The same goes for semiconductorsa strategic issue for which France and Europe intend to reduce their dependence. Emmanuel Macron recalled that France now produces electronic fleas and has strengthen its production capacities thanks to aid of the European Union.
AI must also be thought of under a ecological prism. The carbon footprint of digital infrastructure is a major issue, especially for data centers, extremely energy -consuming. France intends to capitalize on its energy mix, one of the most decarbonized in the worldto develop sustainable infrastructure.
“In France, we have an extraordinary lead. It is that we produce the most of the most decarbonized electricity in the world, the most controllable and the safest. We have a safest and most stable network. And we are exporter of this decarbonized electricity.
For what ? Because in the 1960s, our predecessors wanted nuclear power, that I have developed it and that I confirmed this strategy, that we are recreating nuclear reactors and that we then developed renewable .
So we, when we do data centers in France, is not the same in the United States. Because today, these data centers, they turn a lot with oil and gas. It is not the same in lots of European countries which are still charcoal and gas. »»
The president announced The creation of an alliance for a sustainable AIin order to reconcile technological performance and environmental responsibility.
AI, a lever for progress in health and industry
AI is already a reality in many sectors, including health, where it is revolutionizing the Detection and treatment of cancer. During his visit to the Gustave Roussy Institute, Emmanuel Macron was able to observe the contribution of AI technologies in the analysis of MRI and scanners. Where it was once needed for several hours to detect a tumor, AI today makes it possible to establish a diagnosis in a few seconds and precisely target the areas to be treated.
Innovation also affects the field of rehabilitation. At the top, a user presented the exoskeleton developed by WADERCRAFTa French startup that exploits AI to help people find their mobility. These advances show that AI is not only an automation force, but also a human capacity increase tool.
“We will have, in the care professions, support, assistants with artificial intelligence that will do the heaviest, most repetitive tasks. But it will also give back space to do better.
Look in all our countries today. We talk every day, you often talk about it rightly, many care trades are very hard, it is difficult to recruit, they are not paid enough.
Artificial intelligence, it will make it possible to delegate some of these tasks, but it will allow humans to be put back. And it is not a robot or an artificial intelligence assistant who will have the benevolence of a telephone call, a physical contact, the care that is put with a person who is old or a person with disabilities . Not Yet. »»
Emmanuel Macron nevertheless refuses the idea of a massive substitution of workers with AI. According to him, AI will assist the professions rather than replace themtransforming the nature of jobs rather than destroying them.
“I do not be at all part of those who think it will replace everything.
Just a parenthesis, we have already experienced this debate when the robots arrived. We had this debate in the 90s in France. It has been said that robots will replace employees. We have blocked robots much more in our industries than elsewhere. Well, in doing so, we have more deindustrialized.
Where we put the robot – and besides we have been correcting this gap for a few years in France – where we put the robot, well our workers, our employees, they are formed, they drive the robot. They have much fewer musculoskeletal disorders, they have a time that is clear, they look at the quality, but they allow to have much more value in our countries that is created. »»
Towards global regulation of AI
The rise of AI raises many ethical questions, especially in terms of Disinformation and manipulation of digital identities. To illustrate these risks, Emmanuel Macron broadcast a video showing his image diverted by AI, thus highlighting the threat of Deepfakes and falsified content.
However, this sequence created a moment of discomfort during the interview, when the journalist PALKI SHARMA UPADHYAY expressed a marked disapproval by reacting a “It’s not funny, it’s not funny. »». This reaction highlights a significant cultural gap : In India, where respect for the social and professional hierarchy is deeply rooted, the use of the image of a head of state in this way is perceived as inappropriate.
Faced with these disinformation challenges, he advocates a global regulationinspired by initiatives already led by France against hateful content on social networks. He calls for Total transparency of AI actorsby imposing compulsory marking of artificially generated content.
Five years ago, we didn’t need the AI. With social networks, we were threatened with the worst. France fought. And we imposed the French model at European level. Copyright and neighboring rights are protected.
And so, what to do now with AI is exactly the same thing. That is to say: we must tell us when it is AI and when it is not. »»
France also wishes to protect artists and creators in the face of generative AI who exploit works without authorization. An extension of the rules of European copyright at AI is under study.
A strategic alliance with India
Finally, Emmanuel Macron recalled that France sees India a Key partner for technological autonomy. With his counterpart Narendra Modi he intends to develop joint AI projects, in particular in the training of engineers, the construction of Data centers sovereign, actions which will be the soil the implementation of a Franco-Indian innovation ecosystem.
