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Macron says France has clean energy for AI's power needs

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US stance on AI summit statement remains uncertain

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European Commission to announce new AI strategy

By Jeffrey Dastin and Elizabeth Howcroft

Feb 11 (Reuters) - World leaders gathered on Tuesday for

the second day and plenary session of the Paris summit on

artificial intelligence, as U.S. willingness to sign onto a

statement championing sustainable AI remained in question.

Hours after President Emmanuel Macron declared France was in the

AI race and Europe was eager for business, representatives of

nearly 100 countries including China, India and the U.S.

prepared to meet and determine if competing national interests

could be reconciled. U.S. Vice President JD Vance is leading the

American delegation.

Macron highlighted one difference on Monday night. When it comes

to electricity, France would not adopt a "drill, baby, drill"

approach, like U.S. oil production policy, but instead tap its

clean power so companies could "plug, baby, plug" to meet AI's

voracious power needs, he said.

One topic of political alignment, however, was that 2025 was not

the year to regulate AI anew. U.S. President Donald Trump has

torn up his predecessor Joe Biden's AI guardrails and Europe has

taken note.

According to Macron, European Commission President Ursula von

der Leyen will announce on Tuesday a new AI strategy for the

bloc that "will be a unique opportunity for Europe to

accelerate, to simplify our regulations, to deepen the single

market and to invest as well in computing capacities."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had this message for guests at

an AI summit dinner on Monday: "I urge European companies to

join forces for a strong joint effort towards AI made in

Europe," he said in prepared remarks seen by Reuters.

Executives were to gather for the event's Business Day, and

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was expected to address the summit. A

consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it had offered $97.4

billion to buy the nonprofit controlling OpenAI.

It was unclear if the U.S. and other nations would embrace a

draft summit statement circulated on January 30 that called for

an "inclusive approach" to AI that is multi-stakeholder, human

rights-based and bolsters the developing world.

The draft declaration, seen by Reuters, laid out priorities

that included "avoiding market concentration" and "making AI

sustainable for people and the planet."

Vance's first international trip as U.S. vice president

could still take a different focus.

Vance told Breitbart News he would use the occasion to discuss

bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close, among other topics,

the right-leaning U.S. media outlet reported. Reuters was not

able to immediately verify the report.