Marc Palazon reflects on the major announcements from the AI Action Summit and shares Smile's vision for a high-performing and responsible AI.
The AI Action Summit held in Paris marked a decisive turning point for artificial intelligence in Europe and France. With €109 billion in investments, the announcement of 35 new AI-dedicated sites, and the creation of a giga-campus backed by the United Arab Emirates, the event highlights the ambition to structure a robust AI ecosystem. But beyond the numbers, these initiatives raise a crucial question: how can we ensure an ethical, sovereign, and open AI capable of competing with global tech giants? Open Source emerges as a strategic lever to guarantee transparency, innovation, and technological independence.
Key announcements from the AI Action Summit
As the AI Action Summit took place in Paris, bringing together key global players in the sector, several major announcements shaped the event, highlighting the importance of European sovereignty in artificial intelligence.
€109 billion in investments
In France, one of the key takeaways is the €109 billion investment package aimed at accelerating innovation in artificial intelligence. Funded by both private capital and public financing, this package includes:
- Training young talent in AI technologies
- Building data centers
- Establishing a major AI campus
The construction of this AI giga-campus represents an investment of €30 to €50 billion by the United Arab Emirates and aims to position France as a strategic AI hub in Europe by strengthening research, training, and the industrialization of technological innovations.
“Plug baby, plug”
With this reference to Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron announced the establishment of 35 ready-to-use sites for AI development across mainland France. These 35 AI-dedicated data centers aim to meet the growing demands of generative AI.
EU AI Champions
Finally, the EU AI Champions initiative brings together over 60 European companies, reaffirming a common ambition: to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in artificial intelligence. This collective, which includes companies such as Mistral, Spotify, and Airbus, aims to create a strong, high-performing, yet ethical and sovereign alternative to American and Chinese players. Beyond the AI Action Summit and the announcements made, it is clear that artificial intelligence is booming, reshaping our habits, transforming industries, and redefining global economic balances. In the face of dominance by American and Chinese giants, Europe cannot remain a mere observer. We must assert our technological sovereignty by leveraging a fundamental asset: Open Source.
Open Source at the heart of innovation in artificial intelligence
Open Source ensures transparency, accelerates progress through the pooling of efforts, and reduces dependency on proprietary solutions, whose biases and limitations are often opaque. Many open AI frameworks and models, such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Hugging Face, have demonstrated the power of this collaborative approach. Other technologies, like ONNX for model interoperability, JAX for computational optimization, Stable Diffusion for image generation, and Rasa for conversational assistants, further strengthen the diversity and robustness of this ecosystem. And the list keeps growing: new Open Source solutions are emerging regularly, continuously enriching the technological landscape and offering increasingly powerful and accessible alternatives.
A strategic challenge
Without digital sovereignty, we risk seeing our data, infrastructures, and innovation capabilities become dependent on external players. AI should not be a monopoly; it must remain a common good. To achieve this, it is essential to support European initiatives in Open Source AI, strengthen collaborations between companies, researchers, and public institutions, and ensure funding that matches our ambitions.
A massive investment is necessary to help European companies establish themselves globally in AI and Open Source. Today, too many startups and innovative players struggle to compete with American and Chinese giants due to a lack of financial resources and an insufficient support ecosystem. Public authorities must recognize that investing in these technologies is a major competitiveness issue. Governments and institutions can play a key role by setting an example: promoting the use of Open Source solutions and actively supporting local players through strategic public procurement.
Smile's vision
At Smile, the European leader in Open Source digital services, we firmly believe that the future of AI lies in an open, transparent, and collaborative approach. It is time for Europe to take control of its own destiny, leverage its technological excellence, and assert its independence in this industrial revolution.
Open Source AI is not just an opportunity—it is a necessity for a strong and sovereign Europe.
The power to act is in our hands—let’s shape the future together.
