(Updated with Macron’s speech)
France is welcoming many technology sector leaders and political figures this week, including Elon Musk, boss of Tesla
TSLA.O and owner of the social network (AI).
The Viva Technology conference, which takes place from May 22 to 25 in the capital, will provide an opportunity for participants to address key issues related to AI, including its potential impact on the next elections and climate change .
Emmanuel Macron, who planned to go to VivaTech, participated this Tuesday by videoconference in the international summit on AI being held in Seoul, a summit of which France will organize the 2025 edition.
The French president then made a speech at the Elysée, in front of several AI players, on the position of France and Europe in the sector.
“Basically, the question posed to France, to Europe, is: are we deciding on the investments, the support policy that will allow us to fully return to international competition?” asked Emmanuel Macron
“This is a moment of strategic awakening that we are experiencing, which requires profound choices in terms of research, training and investment,” he also declared.
The French president also took up certain recommendations from the Commission on artificial intelligence, which submitted its report in mid-March after six months of work.
DYNAMIC ECOSYSTEM
Over the past 18 months, France has attempted to build a reputation as a leader in the field of so-called generative AI, the technology that notably underpins OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT tool, by striving to attract new startups.
For the moment, Paris is positioned behind London in terms of technological investments, but “the Parisian ecosystem is very dynamic and investments have been numerous in recent years”, underlines François Bitouzet, general director of VivaTech.
Investors have pumped nearly eight billion dollars into French tech companies in 2023, behind Britain ($13 billion) but ahead of Germany ($7 billion), according to a recent report from the capital firm -Atomico risk.
For the organizers of VivaTech, the status of Paris as the world capital of luxury constitutes an asset for attracting investments in the field of technology.
“Luxury is always linked to innovation, because the objective is always to offer something that no one else can offer,” observes François Bitouzet.
A sign of this link between luxury and “tech”, LVMH LVMH.PA, headed by Bernard Arnault, is a founding partner of VivaTech.
(Written by Martin Coulter in London, with contributions from Mimosa Spencer; French version Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)