France, EU promise to cut red tape on AI

Macron calls for 'Notre-Dame approach' to drive tech growth amid competition

PARIS — Europe will cut back on regulation to make it easier for artificial intelligence to flourish in the region, French President Emmanuel Macron told an AI summit in Paris on Monday, urging investment in the European Union — and more specifically in France.

The EU's digital chief Henna Virkkunen also promised that the bloc would simplify its rules and implement them in a business-friendly way. As United States President Donald Trump has torn up his predecessor's AI guardrails to boost US competitiveness, pressure has built on the EU to pursue a lighter-touch approach to AI regulation to help keep European companies in the tech race.

"We will simplify," Macron said. "It's very clear we have to resynchronize with the rest of the world."