Trump, DeepSeek in Focus as Nations Gather at Paris AI Summit

This photograph shows screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company which develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in Toulouse, southwestern France on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company which develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in Toulouse, southwestern France on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
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Trump, DeepSeek in Focus as Nations Gather at Paris AI Summit

This photograph shows screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company which develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in Toulouse, southwestern France on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows screens displaying the logo of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company which develops open-source large language models, and the logo of OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in Toulouse, southwestern France on January 29, 2025. (AFP)

All eyes are on the French capital next week to see if US President Donald Trump’s administration can find common ground with China and nearly 100 other nations on the safe development of artificial intelligence.

About a year after world powers reckoned with the dangers of AI in England’s Bletchley Park, a wider array of countries are gathering in Paris to discuss putting the technology to work.

France, eager to promote its national industry, is hosting the AI Action Summit alongside India on Feb. 10 and 11, with a focus on areas where Europe’s second-largest economy has an advantage: freely available or “open-source” systems, and clean energy to power data centers.

Mitigating labor disruption and promoting sovereignty in a global AI market are also on the agenda.

Top executives from Alphabet, Microsoft and dozens of other businesses are slated to attend. Government leaders are expected to dine on Monday with select CEOs. And talks will include one on Tuesday by Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, two people involved in the summit told Reuters.

It was less clear whether the US will reach consensus with other nations on AI.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, President Trump has revoked former President Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order on the technology, set in motion a repeat withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and faced Congressional calls to consider new export controls on AI chips to counter rival China.

US Vice President JD Vance will attend for the American delegation.

A non-binding communiqué of principles for the stewardship of AI, bearing US, Chinese and other signatures, has been under negotiation and would mark a big achievement if reached, said the people involved in the summit, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

They declined to detail the communiqué or elaborate if there were any points of disagreement among the would-be signatories.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

An official for the French presidency said the summit will give voice to countries around the world, not only the US and China.

"We are showing that AI is here, that companies must adopt it, that it is a vector of competitiveness for France and for Europe," the Élysée official said.

NO NEW AI REGULATION

Safety commitments dominated the conversation in prior global AI summits in Bletchley Park and Seoul. In Paris, creating new regulation is not on the agenda.

Reeling from red tape and a reputation for risk aversion, Europe and particularly France are eager to discuss frameworks for AI policy but not rules that could slow down their national champions, which have lagged American companies. Countries like France are evaluating how to implement the EU AI Act in as flexible a way as possible so it does not discourage innovation, the people involved in the summit said.

Instead in focus is how to distribute AI’s benefits to developing nations, via cheaper models made by the likes of France’s startup Mistral and China’s DeepSeek. The Hangzhou-based company rocked global markets last month by showing it could vie with US heavyweights on human-like reasoning technology, while charging much less.

France has seized on the development as evidence that the global race to more powerful AI remains wide open.

One of the summit’s likely outcomes is that philanthropies and businesses are expected to commit an initial $500 million in capital, going up to $2.5 billion over five years, to fund public-interest projects on AI around the world, the people said.

Another is addressing the energy crunch that industry thinks is inevitable from their power-hungry AI models. A major producer of clean energy in the form of nuclear power, France wants to reconcile the world’s climate and AI ambitions.

France's decarbonized energy and "nuclear fleet, in the context of data center installations, is an asset," the Élysée official said. "We will most likely have announcements in this regard at the summit."



Huawei’s Tri-Foldable Phone Hits Global Markets in a Show of Defiance Amid US Curbs 

Visitors stand in front of a giant billboard displaying the Huawei's first tri-foldable Mate XT smartphone during an event for its global launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Visitors stand in front of a giant billboard displaying the Huawei's first tri-foldable Mate XT smartphone during an event for its global launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Huawei’s Tri-Foldable Phone Hits Global Markets in a Show of Defiance Amid US Curbs 

Visitors stand in front of a giant billboard displaying the Huawei's first tri-foldable Mate XT smartphone during an event for its global launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Visitors stand in front of a giant billboard displaying the Huawei's first tri-foldable Mate XT smartphone during an event for its global launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Huawei on Tuesday held a global launch for the industry’s first tri-foldable phone, which analysts said marked a symbolic victory for the Chinese tech giant amid US technology curbs. But challenges over pricing, longevity, supply and app constraints may limit its success.

Huawei said at a launch event in Kuala Lumpur that the Huawei Mate XT, first unveiled in China five months ago, will be priced at 3,499 euros ($3,662). Although dubbed a trifold, the phone has three mini-panels and folds only twice. The company says it's the thinnest foldable phone at 3.6 millimeters (0.14 inches), with a 10.2-inch screen similar to an Apple iPad.

“Right now, Huawei kind of stands alone as an innovator” with the trifold design, said Bryan Ma, vice president of device research with the market intelligence firm International Data Corporation.

Huawei reached the position despite “not getting access to chips, to Google services. All these things basically have been huge roadblocks in front of Huawei,” Ma said, adding that the “resurgence we're seeing from them over the past year has been quite a bit of a victory."

Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, is at the center of a US-China battle over trade and technology. Washington in 2019 severed Huawei’s access to US components and technology, including Google’s music and other smartphone services, making Huawei's phone less appealing to users. It has also barred global vendors from using US technology to produce components for Huawei.

American officials say Huawei is a security risk, which the company denies. China’s government has accused Washington of misusing security warnings to contain a rising competitor to US technology companies.

Huawei launched the Mate XT in China on Sept. 20 last year, the same day Apple launched its iPhone 16 series in global markets. But with its steep price tag, the Mate XT “is not a mainstream product that people are going to jump for,” Ma said.

At the Kuala Lumpur event, Huawei also unveiled its MatePad Pro tablet and Free Arc, its first open-ear earbuds with ear hooks and other wearable devices.

While Huawei’s cutting-edge devices showcase its technological prowess, its long-term success remains uncertain given ongoing challenges over global supply chain constraints, chip availability and limitations on the software ecosystem, said Ruby Lu, an analyst with the research firm TrendForce.

“System limitations, particularly the lack of Google Mobile Services, means its international market potential remains constrained,” Lu said.

IDC's Ma said Huawei dominated the foldable phone market in China with 49% market share last year. In the global market, it had 23% market share, trailing behind Samsung's 33% share in 2024, he said. IDC predicted that total foldable phone shipments worldwide could surge to 45.7 million units by 2028, from over 20 million last year.

While most major brands have entered the foldable segments, Lu said Apple has yet to release a competing product.

“Once Apple enters the market, it is expected to significantly influence and stimulate further growth in the foldable phone sector,” Lu added.