Under EU laws, regulators can ban AI systems deemed to pose “unacceptable risks” to society, such as identifying people in real time using cameras in public spaces.
Macron further said that France was “doubling the number of AI scientists and engineers trained”, with new startups in the sector creating “dozens of thousands” of jobs.
Last month, French lawmakers passed a bill that would ban social media use for under-15s, which awaits a Senate vote before becoming law, following a similar ban enacted by Australia in December.
“One of our G7 priorities will be, as well, children’s protection against AI and digital abuse,” said Macron.
“There is no reason our children should be exposed online to what is legally forbidden in the real world,” he said.
France is “committed here in this journey” with several European countries, Macron said, adding that he knows India “will join this club”.
“Protecting our children is not regulation … It is civilization,” he said.
TECH DEALS STRUCK AT INDIA AI SUMMIT
The AI summit that wraps up on Saturday has also been a chance for India to boost its position in the booming sector.
The nation expects more than US$200 billion in investments over the next two years, and the US tech titans have unveiled new deals, investments and infrastructure for the South Asian country this week.
On Thursday, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a plan to build hyperscale AI data centre capacity in the South Asian country.
Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, told the conference that the world “urgently” needs to regulate the fast-evolving technology.
“This is not to suggest that we won’t need any regulation or safeguards. We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies,” Altman said on stage in New Delhi.
The previous day Google said it planned to build subsea cables as part of an existing US$15 billion AI infrastructure investment.
“Since my childhood growing up in Chennai, India has undergone an incredible transformation,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said at the summit.
“India is going to have an extraordinary trajectory with AI and we want to be a partner,” he added.
US chip behemoth Nvidia – the world’s most valuable company – also said it was teaming up with Indian cloud computing providers to provide advanced processors for data centres that can train and run AI systems.
AI data centres are under construction worldwide on a massive scale, as companies race to develop super-intelligent systems.
The huge amounts of electricity needed to power them and water to cool hot servers has sparked alarm at a time when countries have pledged to decarbonise their grids to try and slow climate change.
