Emmanuel Macron convened the top leaders of Artificial Intelligence in Evian for a working lunch at the end of the G-7 summit dedicated to the "geopolitics" of AI, with the controversy surrounding the intervention of the Trump Administration to suspend the commercialization of the Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models by Anthropic for reasons of "national security".
Anthropic's own Dario Amodei was among the invited guests, along with Sam Altman (OpenAI), Arthur Mensch (Mistral), and a broad representation of the sector on both sides of the Atlantic. The club of wealthy countries is preparing to "adopt an approach that promotes innovation while addressing risks at the same time."
The lunch with tech leaders was preceded by the striking statements of former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal following the events with Anthropic. "The AI war has already begun," Attal warned. "We cannot rely on others because it makes us vulnerable, and the decision of the United States proves it. Anthropic is their Strait of Hormuz."
Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally and potential candidate for the 2027 presidential elections, joined the debate by stating that "Artificial Intelligence is already an important issue of national sovereignty" and calling for the French government's support for Mistral and "the entire French AI ecosystem."
The unprecedented 'block' of Anthropic's latest models (also the creator of the popular 'chatbot' Claude) was announced on June 12 by the company itself, stating that U.S. authorities had ordered to cut off access to "any foreign citizen, whether inside or outside the United States".
New gap between the US and the EU
The intervention of the Trump Administration marks a significant shift in its AI policy and opens up a possible new gap between the US and the EU regarding technology, in addition to the issue of taxation of digital giants like Apple, Google, or Meta.
After two intense days marked by the Iran agreement and the war in Ukraine, the G-7 took a turn on its last day with a session dedicated to "balanced, shared, and sustainable economic growth," with the recent report on "macroeconomic imbalances" prepared by the French presidency on the table.
Trump arrived late to the meeting, which had guests such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva. The U.S. President, however, showed an unusual complacency in the multilateral meetings in Evian, which will culminate tonight with a gala dinner in Versailles for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
Trump acknowledged that his intention was to leave the summit on Wednesday afternoon, but he changed his plans enticed by Emmanuel Macron's tempting offer: "I like beautiful places... And Versailles is not gold leaf, but real gold".