French Finance Minister Roland Lescure has denounced demands to halt the development of artificial intelligence, saying such requests could favour US firms and countries already ahead in the global AI race.
Instead, France and other European countries should accelerate the adoption and development of AI, while implementing mechanisms to identify and control the hazards of the technology, Lescure added.
Lesure told Reuters on the sidelines of an event sponsored by French startup lobby France Digitale in Paris Wednesday that he clearly saw pleas to slow down from those at the top of the class.
He said that asking people to slow down could enable those already leading the business to remain there.
“I want us to strengthen our efforts in France and in Europe in general, to be a leader and to be able to master the risks,” he said.
His remarks come amid a revived discussion over the race to build AI after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on companies to limit the development of AI models, expressing concern over the possible misuse of the technology and the danger of humans losing control of more and more sophisticated systems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also voiced support for timing AI research, adding to ongoing conversations within the tech industry about how to balance innovation with safety.
Lescure said he was wary of making any concrete forecasts on the danger AI poses to humanity.
“I’m always a bit wary of definitive statements,” he added. He warned that they could sometimes become a method of shirking communal responsibility for managing the technology.
The French minister did admit, however, that AI does bring real threats, especially in sectors like cybersecurity and education. He said while the technology needed to be developed, France and Europe have to understand those concerns.
The dispute highlights a growing rift over how governments and tech businesses should respond to ever more powerful artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Some industry leaders are advocating for more prudence and tougher safety standards, but European politicians like Lescure highlight the need not to lag behind the United States technologically.
The meeting comes as corporations tied to AI face increasing scrutiny over the amount and pace of investment in the industry. Warnings from major AI CEOs have fuelled new concerns about whether technical advances are outpacing the safety measures to contain their fallout.
For Europe, the question is increasingly how to preserve technical competitiveness while adopting regulations that can deal with the threats of more complex artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
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