EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday urged the world’s wealthiest democracies to jointly regulate advanced artificial intelligence systems, addressing a high-level session at the Group of Seven summit that included leading AI executives.
Macron said it was a “good thing” that U.S. officials recognize the potential dangers of frontier AI models, but criticized the Trump administration’s response as a “strictly nationalist” approach. The comment came after the White House last week issued a directive barring foreign nationals from using Anthropic’s newest and most powerful AI systems.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed Macron’s call for coordinated governance. Altman told the gathering that an “international forum” is needed for countries to establish AI guardrails, and said the responsibility for AI safety “should not be left to tech companies.”
The U.S. directive on Anthropic’s models — issued on an unspecified date last week — has created fresh friction among allies already navigating trade and security tensions at the summit. Macron acknowledged that the U.S. restrictions demonstrate Washington’s recognition that powerful AI systems carry risks, but argued that a purely nationalist posture undermines the multilateral cooperation needed to manage those risks.
The discussion on AI unfolded against a backdrop of broader alliance strains. In prior sessions, G7 leaders addressed the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, with European nations treading carefully in their dealings with the Trump administration.