Macron says France produces more electricity than it consumes, making it an attractive destination for energy-intensive AI companies.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is touting France’s bid to become an artificial intelligence leader by channeling his inner Donald Trump.
« I have a good friend in other side of ocean [sic], he says drill, baby, drill. Here there is no need to drill, it is plug, baby, plug. » Macron joked during a speech to close the first day of the AI Action Summit in Paris on Monday.
Macron bragged that France can power massive, energy-intensive investments in AI thanks to its nuclear energy production. France produces more electricity than it consumes, he noted, which makes it an attractive destination for energy-intensive AI companies.
« Here it is available and we will go fast and very fast, » the French leader said.
Macron added that Europe was « back in the race » for AI after unveiling €109 billion in investments over « the coming years » on Sunday. Trump last month unveiled a $500 billion American investment plan in AI.
Looking beyond France, Macron also called the Paris summit “a wake-up call” for Europe to develop its own AI strategy as the continent’s tech players risk falling behind the United States and China.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to unveil a European strategy for AI at the summit on Tuesday. Macron said there was a “unique opportunity for Europe” to “simplify regulation, deepen European markets and invest in calculation capacities.”
The EU’s AI Act, which bans certain practices and introduces safeguards for others, is coming under pressure from European industry players who say it is stifling innovation. While the French president said AI would be developed to “serve humanity,” he added that Europe had to “synchronize with the rest of the world” on permissions, authorizations and clinical trials.
Europe is “too slow,” Macron concluded. The French president said his country would henceforth adopt a “Notre-Dame strategy,” a reference to how it rebuilt the famed Parisian cathedral in five years after a 2019 fire — a deadline that many experts initially dismissed as unrealistic.
The French president also called on European firms to “Buy European” and to work with local AI companies rather than with U.S. or Asian competitors. “Guess what, [companies] in America or China or India, if [they] have a very good solution made at home, they prefer this one,” he said.
