![Macron: I think we need global regulations on artificial intelligence](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107257177-16867907031686790701-29887913009-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1686790921&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
PARIS – France’s top politicians told CNBC they will see the beginnings of global regulation of artificial intelligence by the end of this year, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying the country desires to work with the US on rules for the fast-growing technology.
The comments come as interest in AI, spurred by the rapid development of the ChatGPT chatbot, continues to grow and governments around the world debate how the technology ought to be regulated.
Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a global consensus on how AI ought to be governed and controlled, as the US, China and the European Union take different approaches to technology rules. Any global regulatory framework can be an enormous achievement.
France has sought to position itself as the European center of artificial intelligence development, while the European Union, of which France is a member, is pushing through the first regulations of this type.
Macron, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Digital Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot spoke to CNBC on Wednesday at the VivaTech conference in Paris, expressing their desire to introduce global regulations on artificial intelligence.
“From my point of view … I feel we want regulation and all players, even US players, agree with that. I feel we want global regulation,” said Macron’s Karen Tso of CNBC on the sidelines of the event.
Barrot said by the end of the year, “some of the core principles we would wish to see govern AI in the G7 and like-minded countries will begin to emerge.”
![The new AI technology will be a step forward in productivity, says the CEO of a recruitment company](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107256359-16867402971686740294-29879922993-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1686743172&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
The G7 includes countries equivalent to France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. Countries agreed this year to establish a working group to take a look at issues that may arise from AI.
Macron said the G7 and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which incorporates 38 countries, can be a “good platform” to develop global regulations.
Why now?
French concerns about EU AI law
France’s call for global artificial intelligence regulation comes as the European Union moves closer to passing an unprecedented resolution an act called the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved a landmark bill from the bloc that goals to take a risk-based approach to AI regulation.
The most recent amendments to the law include a tougher stance on so-called generative AI, a sort of technology that underlies ChatGPT OpenAI that enables systems to create images or respond textually to prompts. The regulation states that developers of generative artificial intelligence can be required to submit their systems for review before they’re made commercially available.
The act still must be approved by other EU bodies.
France, which has traditionally taken a pro-regulatory stance, has expressed concern that EU law on artificial intelligence has gone too far.
“I’m concerned that in the previous couple of weeks the European Parliament… has taken a really strong stance on the AI laws, sort of using this AI as a technique to solve too many problems without delay,” Barrot said of the generative AI laws.
American rivalry and partnership in the highlight
At the same time as the EU-level bill continues to be in the legislative process, France is pushing for global regulation and sees the US as a key ally.
“Competition is at all times thing. So we now have a really close working relationship with the United States, but we also wish to access our own intelligence and AI corporations,” Le Maire told CNBC on the sidelines of VivaTech.
“Also on the issue of regulation, I think that an in-depth discussion with the US authorities on the best technique to regulate AI is totally essential,” he added.
![France must work with US on AI regulation, finance minister says](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107257238-16868089171686808915-29890549186-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1686809532&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
The US has yet to develop any framework to manage AI. But US corporations are some of the best known in the field, and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, in addition to chip maker Nvidia are leaders in space.
Meanwhile, China, which has change into somewhat of a joint technological rival to the EU and US, has introduced regulations for specific uses of AI, equivalent to computer-generated content, often known as “deep fakes”.
What do the French want in terms of regulation?
Leading French politicians who spoke to CNBC discussed what the focus of AI regulation is.
“We wish to make sure that it’s secure, unbiased… that the linguistic models we now have are usually not biased and that what’s… forbidden in society is forbidden in that model. So we want some rules,” Macron said.
An AI like ChatGPT is trained on huge amounts of data called big language models that allow it to know human language and react. Nevertheless, there are concerns that the data it’s being trained on could cause the system to inherit biases.
Macron also said that should you watch a video or have a look at a photograph created by artificial intelligence, the user has the right to know.
Ultimately, French politicians are considering regulations that balance the must protect technology users without stifling innovation.
“We wish a regulation that each protects users … and builds trust, but can be flexible enough to permit development in the next few weeks, just a few months in France and Europe,” said Barrot.