World leaders set to vie for AI domination at Paris summit

A horse racing fan once told me that the night before a big race, everyone’s a winner.

And with China dramatically blowing the AI competition in a new direction with DeepSeek, its super-efficient and super-viral AI assistant, suddenly there’s a feeling ahead of the summit that the pole position occupied by the US AI sector, despite its vast wealth and AI infrastructure, might not be quite so out-of-reach after all.

Prof Gina Neff, from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, says there is currently “a vacuum for global leadership on AI”.

Prof Dame Wendy Hall, from Southampton University, agrees. “DeepSeek made everybody realise that China is a force to be reckoned with,” says the computer scientist.

“We don’t have to just go along with what the big companies on the West Coast are saying. We need global dialogue.”

On that front, the timing of the summit could not be better.

Europe also spies an opportunity to make a new bid for the AI crown. One of French President Emmanuel Macron’s officials described the summit to journalists as a “wake up call” for France and Europe, adding that the bloc must not let the AI revolution “pass it by”.

Other countries also recognise a potential shifting of AI power in the air. India PM Narendra Modi has confirmed his attendance at this summit – having not come to previous gatherings.

The US is sending some serious firepower as a defensive signal of its own, including Vice President JD Vance, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

Elon Musk is notably absent from the official guest list, but he will undoubtedly have something to say about it all, whether he’s there in person or not.

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer is also reportedly staying away.