The February 2025 AI Action Summit in Paris has recently wrapped up. This is a global gathering formed of governments, technology CEOs, and civil society leaders, focused on discussing the future of AI.
The Summit considered both progress and missed opportunities. Debates on the role of regulation took centre stage, while AI’s role in consolidating the power of the biggest technology companies lingered in the background. Issues around labour disruption and action beyond financial commitments were also generally avoided.
Nabiha Syed, Executive Director at Mozilla has assessed the most important findings from the summit, which have been reviewed by Digital Journal.
AI for the common good, not just profit
AI often feels like a global race, where economic interests dominate. However, with the Summit public interest AI took centre stage.
Mozilla cite Current AI, a new foundation launched at the Summit to advance AI in the public interest backed by the French government, and ROOST, a private initiative (backed in part by Mozilla) focused on building open tools for online safety and content moderation. These are examples of the more progressive aspects of artificial intelligence.
‘Who’s winning at AI?’
The assessment finds there is a highly-competitive global AI race that is unfolding within a tense geopolitical climate. Here, keeping pace with the U.S. and China represents a big theme. In response, France and the EU are announcing initiatives to mobilize in excess of €100 billion investments in AI.
This led to debates about the need for regulation to safeguard the public and a lighter touh to encourage innovation.
Notably, the U.S. and the UK chose not to sign the official Summit declaration —refusing to put their name to a declaration that emphasized, above everything else, inclusivity and sustainability.
This is just the beginning
The Mozilla report states that now “follow-through is what matters”. This means, according to Syed: “Now, it’s on government and industry leaders to turn words into action – to uphold their commitments to openness, transparency and trustworthiness, and invest in the initiatives launched at the Summit. It’s also on every one of us who cares about trustworthy AI to hold these leaders accountable, and to keep pushing for an AI ecosystem that’s not just innovative, but also fair, transparent, and built for the common good.”
The Summit was more inclusive
Mozilla recommend getting civil society in the room is not enough. On top of this, non-profit organizations, activists, and community leaders need a real seat at the decision-making table.
Build AI that serves all of us
AI appears to be racing forward without enough guardrails, This produces several risks: unchecked power and a widening gap between AI’s rapid development and the ability to ensure it serves the public good.
