Paris, France - February 10, 2025 World leaders and executives of leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies gathered in Paris on Monday for a major two-day summit on the future of AI, which aims to assess the challenges and opportunities posed by the rapidly evolving technology. Held at the historic Grand Palais in the French capital, the AI Action Summit is being attended by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and has drawn representatives from nearly 100 countries and regions and more than 1,000 stakeholders from the private sector and civil society. The summit is focusing on harnessing innovation and creativity as well as on the more complex issues surrounding the safety and regulation of AI. The opening day featured sub-forums detailing how the fast-expanding tech can be used in the public interest and ensuring it respects cultural diversity, and also saw discussions centered around global AI governance. The European Union approved draft laws governing AI last year, but the proposals have met resistance from some tech firms, with Sam Altman, CEO of leading U.S. research firm OpenAI, warning that innovation in the industry could be stifled. In hosting this major AI summit, France is hoping to position itself as a leading light in the future development of AI, with President Emmanuel Macron promising over 110 billion U.S. dollars' worth of private investment in the French AI sector. One of Macron's former advisers said more work can be done to ensure AI development is accelerated across Europe. While the expansion of AI around the world is seeing new jobs being created in digital industries, there are worries about the impact of traditional roles being lost across multiple sectors. Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), echoed these concerns, emphasizing the need for this potentially life-altering transition to be effectively managed. Shotlist: Paris, France - Feb 10, 2025: 1. Various of AI Action Summit in progress at Grand Palais, guests; Paris, France - Feb 10, 2025 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexandre Mirlesse, Paris Peace Forum Special Adviser for AI (starting with shot 1): "What we want to show here is that we also have a vibrant ecosystem with Paris growing as the capital of continental Europe when it comes to AI innovation. We have the political willingness to invest in AI. Today, as you might have noticed, President Macron announced 109 billion euros of investment in AI infrastructure in France alone. And that can be scaled up at the European level. We have the minds, we have an environment that's also prone to innovation and we want to showcase that to the world. We need to do more efforts, we need to accelerate in a world that also accelerates, and we need to give good reasons for AI stakeholders who are here today to choose Europe."; Paris, France - Feb 10, 2025 3. Various of panel in progress, large clock, attendees at summit; Paris, France - Feb 10, 2025 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gilbert Houngbo, Director-General of International Labor Organization (starting with shot 3): "I am obviously worried about the potential of those workers that are going to be losing - that are, in fact, already starting to lose their jobs - so it's important, the whole transition management."; Paris, France - Feb 10, 2025 5. Various of attendees at summit. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]