This week, France welcomes a host of technology leaders and political figures, including Tesla boss and X-owner Elon Musk, former US Secretary of State John Kerry and former Google executive Eric Schmidt, to affirm Paris' role as a "place to be" in artificial intelligence (AI).

The "Viva Technology" conference, to be held in the capital from May 22 to 25, will provide an opportunity for participants to address key AI-related issues, including its potential impact on upcoming elections and climate change.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is scheduled to attend VivaTech, will take part this Tuesday via videoconference in the international AI summit being held in Seoul, a summit that France will host in 2025.

He will then bring together several AI players at the Elysée Palace before a speech, scheduled for 16:40 GMT, on "France and Europe's position on artificial intelligence", the Elysée Palace said.

The head of state is expected to take up some of the recommendations of the Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which delivered its report in mid-March after six months' work.

"The aim is for Paris to become a key player in AI. Today, we're at the heart of the debate. Now we need to confirm our position and turn the corner, because it's clear that the other global players, whether in Shanghai or San Francisco, are not waiting for us and are accelerating too", says the Elysée.

"We're obviously working on an extremely strategic technology, in which investments are considerable worldwide, which raises a lot of questions for citizens, and which is probably one of the most important reservoirs for productivity and internal growth", adds the presidential palace.

DYNAMIC ECOSYSTEM

Over the past 18 months, France has tried to forge a reputation as a leader in the field of so-called generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI's popular ChatGPT tool in particular, by striving to attract new startups.

For the time being, Paris is behind London in terms of technological investment, but "the Parisian ecosystem is very dynamic and there has been a lot of investment in recent years", emphasizes François Bitouzet, VivaTech's general manager.

According to a recent report by venture capital firm Atomico, investors will have injected nearly eight billion dollars into French technology companies by 2023, behind Great Britain (13 billion dollars) but ahead of Germany (7 billion dollars).

For the organizers of VivaTech, Paris' status as the world's luxury capital is an asset in attracting investment in technology.

"Luxury is always linked to innovation, because the objective is always to offer something that no one else can," observes François Bitouzet.

As a sign of this link between luxury and "tech", LVMH, headed by Bernard Arnault, is a founding partner of VivaTech. (Written by Martin Coulter, with contributions from Mimosa Spencer, Blandine Hénault for the French version, edited by Kate Entringer)