Macron Says AI Should Not Be 'Wild West'

 French President Emmanuel Macron attends to the presentation of the French Pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo at the City of Architecture and Heritage in Paris, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends to the presentation of the French Pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo at the City of Architecture and Heritage in Paris, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Macron Says AI Should Not Be 'Wild West'

 French President Emmanuel Macron attends to the presentation of the French Pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo at the City of Architecture and Heritage in Paris, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends to the presentation of the French Pavilion for the Osaka 2025 World Expo at the City of Architecture and Heritage in Paris, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)

Development of artificial intelligence (AI) should not be an unregulated "Wild West", French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday ahead of a global summit on the technology in Paris.

The call to impose rules -- tempered with the pro-business president's fundamental optimism about the technology -- comes as France and Europe push to stay abreast of the AI race dominated by the US and China.

"AI can't be the Wild West," Macron told French regional newspapers including Ouest-France and Le Parisien in advance of the gathering of global political and tech industry leaders on Monday and Tuesday.

"There have to be rules" and "there are all kinds of fields where we don't want AI, because we don't want it creating discrimination or mass control in our society," he added.

Macron nevertheless insisted that "we shouldn't be afraid of innovation".

There is "a risk that some people don't set themselves any rules... but also the reverse, that Europe sets itself too many rules, parts ways with the others and therefore can't innovate," he warned.

The French leader's attempt to reconcile the two positions at the summit will be a "declaration open for any country to sign, on a completely voluntary basis, with strong principles on protecting rights, the environment, news integrity and intellectual property," Macron said.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is one of the highest-profile political leaders to attend the summit in Paris, alongside figures like US Vice President JD Vance and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.

The EU must be "ready to fight to be fully autonomous and independent, or will we let the competition shrink to a battle between the USA and China?" Macron said.

"If Europe takes an interest in this subject, simplifies and speeds up, it has cards to play," he added.

Macron called for "European and economic patriotism" including buying locally developed AI services that he said promised boosts for the EU's competitiveness and productivity.

Von der Leyen is expected to announce plans to build around 10 public supercomputers for research and use by start-up firms, the president added.



Impostor Uses AI to Impersonate Rubio and Contact Foreign and US Officials

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Department, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Department, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
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Impostor Uses AI to Impersonate Rubio and Contact Foreign and US Officials

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Department, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Department, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

The State Department is warning US diplomats of attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly other officials using technology driven by artificial intelligence, according to two senior officials and a cable sent last week to all embassies and consulates.

The warning came after the department discovered that an impostor posing as Rubio had attempted to reach out to at least three foreign ministers, a US senator and a governor, according to the July 3 cable, which was first reported by The Washington Post.

The recipients of the scam messages, which were sent by text, Signal and voice mail, were not identified in the cable, a copy of which was shared with The Associated Press.

“The State Department is aware of this incident and is currently investigating the matter,” it said. “The department takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard its information and continuously takes steps to improve the department’s cybersecurity posture to prevent future incidents.”

It declined to comment further due to “security reasons” and the ongoing investigation.

One of the officials said the hoaxes had been unsuccessful and “not very sophisticated.” Nonetheless, the second official said the department deemed it “prudent” to advise all employees and foreign governments, particularly as efforts by foreign actors to compromise information security increase.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“There is no direct cyber threat to the department from this campaign, but information shared with a third party could be exposed if targeted individuals are compromised,” the cable said.

The FBI warned in a public service announcement this past spring of a “malicious text and voice messaging campaign” in which unidentified “malicious actors” have been impersonating senior US government officials.

The scheme, according to the FBI, has relied on text messages and AI-generated voice messages that purport to come from a senior US official and that aim to dupe other government officials as well as the victim’s associates and contacts.

It is the second high-level Trump administration official to face such AI-driven impersonation.

The government was investigating after elected officials, business executives and other prominent figures received messages from someone impersonating President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Text messages and phone calls went out from someone who seemed to have gained access to the contacts in Wiles’ personal cellphone, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.

Some of those who received calls heard a voice that sounded like Wiles, which may have been generated by artificial intelligence, according to the newspaper. The messages and calls were not coming from Wiles’ number, the report said.