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PARIS — The world needs regulation to ensure the benefits of artificial intelligence aren’t enjoyed only by extremely wealthy “oligarchs,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a speech Monday at a global conference on AI.
Trudeau said that while the goal isn’t to stop progress, the technology needs guardrails, transparency and accountability.
“We must put AI to the service of everyone, in both high and low income countries, not just for an increasingly small group of ultrarich oligarchs whose only concern is the value of their stock portfolio,” he said.
His comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration — which has been friendly with the tech sector — pushes back on international efforts to regulate artificial intelligence.
Trump revoked former President Joe Biden’s executive order for AI guardrails and is replacing it with his own AI policy designed to maintain America’s global leadership by, among other things, reducing regulatory barriers.
Trudeau used his speech to explain how AI plays into the agenda for the June G7 summit.
A day earlier at a roundtable in Paris, Trudeau said that the need for more electricity to power artificial intelligence will be a key topic of discussion at the G7 this year, as Canada assumes the presidency of the multinational body. He said increased power generation shouldn’t come at the expense of addressing climate change — and nuclear energy should play a role.
“As an environmentalist, for me, the debate is over,” he said.
“Large-scale nuclear reactors must be part of this solution for the future, because if you’re not willing to embrace nuclear now, then coal-powered AI from other parts of the world will shape the coming decades for the worse.”
Trudeau also used his speech to promote Canada as a place for AI investment, praising Canadian AI pioneers like Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton and Richard Sutton.
He said Canada also has “the critical minerals needed to build this technological revolution, specialized semiconductor expertise, and one of the world’s cleanest electricity grids.”
“And yes, we’re reasonable and always polite,” he added to chuckles from the audience.
A readout from the Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau met Monday with representatives from AI companies, including Anthropic, Advanced Micro Devices, OVHCloud and Hugging Face, and continued his pitch for Canada.
Heads of state, top government officials, CEOs and scientists from roughly 100 countries are taking part in the two-day AI Action Summit.
The Palais de l’Élysée rolled out the red carpet for a number of those dignitaries on Monday evening, including Trudeau. Other guests included Indian President Narendra Modi, U.S. Vice-President JD Vance and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
While the two previous global AI summits focused on the risks of the technology, the Paris meeting is broader.
Organizers are working to get countries to sign a joint political declaration committing to more ethical, democratic and environmentally sustainable AI, according to French President Emmanuel Macron’s office. It’s not clear whether the U.S. would agree to such a measure.
During his time in Paris, Vance is expected to is push back on European efforts to tighten AI oversight while advocating for a more open, innovation-driven approach.
— With files from The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2025.
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
