The AI Action Summit hosted by France on February 10 and 11 could not be happening at a more critical time. Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology underscore what many of us have long been saying–AI is moving fast and greater international coordination on AI governance is urgently needed. The opportunities and challenges that AI presents are global, so the response must also be on a global level. 

Bringing together more than 80 heads of state and hundreds of global leaders, the Summit is a window for action that can determine the course of history. It is a moment of scientific progress, given the launch of the International AI Safety Report and integration of France’s AI Safety Institute (Institut national pour l’évaluation et la sécurité de l’intelligence artificielle) into the International Network of AI Safety Institutes. It is also a moment of political progress, with the possibility of a €2.5 billion Foundation for AI Commons and the Summit as one of the few venues for U.S.-China dialogue on AI at a time of geopolitical uncertainty. And, it marks a promising step towards inclusive governance, with civil society making up about a third of attendees–which can help to ensure that AI policies are sustainable and grounded in the realities of communities worldwide. 

As an organization that has worked on AI governance for more than a decade, The Future Society has witnessed how previous AI Summits at Bletchley Park and in Seoul have helped to move the needle on AI governance. They have created a foundation for constructive international cooperation and launched vital efforts and institutions such the AI Safety Institutes. 

Now, France is sparking new momentum with this Summit, including by a groundbreaking effort to engage experts and the broader public through the consultation we co-organized. More than 11,000 citizens and over 200 experts organizations shared their hopes for the Summit. Findings were presented at our Sixth Edition of The Athens Roundtable on AI and the Rule of Law, an official Road to the AI Action Summit event held at the OECD Headquarters in Paris this past December. During the Roundtable, Summit Envoys and participants discussed the role of the AI Action Summit for advancing a more accountable AI governance ecosystem. Two months later, it’s time to make this a reality. 

We are looking forward to this next week in Paris, represented at the Summit by our Executive Director Nick Moës. Our Senior Associate Caroline Jeanmaire and Associate Tereza Zoumpalova will also join a number of events organized on the Summit’s margins, including the side event we are co-hosting on February 11 to explore and strengthen the role of civil society organizations in AI global dialogues. Read on for more details.

Follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn and X for updates, and get in touch if you want to connect in Paris. 

Where We’ll Be

• January 29: Center for AI Security (CeSIA)’s Turing Dialogues on AI Governance, featuring our colleague Tereza Zoumpalova on a panel about about the need for red lines, as well as their limitations
• January 30: Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium (Part 1), with our presentation of the citizen and expert consultation for the AI Action Summit during the Governance section
• February 5: What’s Next for AI Governance? Roundtable, hosted by General-Purpose AI Policy Lab, Center for AI Security (CeSIA), and Sciences Po Cybersecurity Association, and featuring our colleague Caroline Jeanmaire speaking about the future of voluntary commitments
• February 6-7: International Association for Safe and Ethical AI Inaugural Conference, an initiative to convene leading experts from academia, civil society, industry, media, and government and featuring our Executive Director Nick Moës speaking on the “Strategic foresight for safe and ethical AI” panel
• February 7: The AI, Science & Society Conference at École Polytechnique, with a focus on The OECD and the UK AI Safety Institute (AISI)’s session on Thresholds for Frontier AI
• February 7: The OECD’s Launch of the Hiroshima AI Process (HAIP) Reporting Framework
  February 8: Asia Society France and AI Safety Asia’s From Oil to Water: Governing AI as a Global Public Good – A Europe-Asia Dialogue 
• February 8: Participatory AI Research & Practice Symposium (Part 2), where we will be presenting the results of our consultation of citizens and experts for the Summit
• February 9: AI Safety Connect 2025 
• February 9: AI Security Forum
• February 9: The Tony Blair Institute’s Governing in the Age of AI
• February 10: AI Action Summit
• February 11: Global AI Governance: Empowering Civil Society, which we are co-hosting with Renaissance Numérique, Wikimédia France, the Avaaz Foundation, Connected by Data, and the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting, with the support of Racine 
• February 11: UNESCO’s Side Event on Preparing AI for the World – Preparing the World for AI, with a focus on civil society organizations and academic cooperation 

These are only some of the many interesting events that we plan to attend. The full list of 100+ Summit side events is here. 

Learn More
The Future Society colleagues co-authored a piece for The AI Wonk about the value of the AI Action Summit and how future Summits can advance the global dialogue on AI governance.