The United States and Britain refused to sign an international declaration on artificial intelligence at France’s AI Action Summit.
The Paris AI summit’s communique, entitled “Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence,” showed both the U.S. and U.K. were absent from the list of signatories.
The U.S. declined to give a clear reason for why it didn’t sign the declaration Tuesday.
A U.K. government spokesperson said that, while London agreed to sign commitments on sustainability and cybersecurity at the AI summit, it “felt the declaration didn’t provide enough practical clarity on global governance, nor sufficiently address harder questions around national security and the challenge AI poses to it.”
“Security remains a vital part of AI’s future and we look forward to continued discussions in this area,” the spokesperson told CNBC via email.
The document signed Tuesday commits signatories to “ensuring AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy, taking into account international frameworks for all.”
The accord also encourages “AI deployment that positively shapes the future of work and labour markets” and “making AI sustainable for people and the planet.”
“Making innovation in AI thrive by enabling conditions for its development and avoiding market concentration driving industrial recovery and development” is another top priority listed in the AI declaration.
France’s AI summit was championed by President Emmanuel Macron, who on Monday told investors and tech firms attending the summit to “choose Europe and France for AI” over the U.S. and U.K.
Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance took aim at Europe’s focus on regulating AI technology, saying the region should be focused on embracing “frontier” AI innovations.
Touting America as “the leader” in AI, Vance said in an address Tuesday that Washington wants its European allies to foster a more favorable attitude to the technology.
“Just because we’re the leader doesn’t mean we want to or need to go it alone, of course,” Vance told an audience of big-name tech figures and political leaders in Paris.
“America wants to partner with all of you, and we want to embark on the AI revolution before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration.”
Following Vance’s speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU would mobilize a total of 200 billion euros for AI investments in Europe.
The sum includes previously-announced 150-billion-euro funding from investors and industry, which Von der Leyen said the bloc will top up by another 50 billion euros.