Macron calls for democratic coordination on AI rules

French President Emmanuel Macron called on democracies to work together on AI regulation during a G7 meeting with leaders from major AI companies. His remarks followed a Trump administration directive halting the use of Anthropic’s latest models by foreign nationals, a move that reinforced European concerns about US dominance in global technology.

Macron said recent US policy shifts were positive because they acknowledged the need for regulation, but he criticized the approach as a “strictly nationalist” reaction. He warned that closing off access through policy could damage the US firms Washington aims to protect, while also arguing that democratic countries should coordinate to prevent authoritarian regimes from gaining access to AI systems.

The discussion came as Europe pushes for greater technological independence. The European Commission has introduced a tech sovereignty package to support local AI companies, while France has pledged investment in its domestic AI sector.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed Macron’s position, saying tech companies should not be responsible for regulating AI safety on their own. Altman called for “an international forum for discussion” to set globally accepted testing standards, provide impartial analysis of capabilities and risks, and support cooperation among nations. Executives from Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Meta, Mistral, Black Forest Labs, Domyn, Sakana AI, Synthesia and Cohere AI also attended.