France is set to announce private sector investments totalling around 109 billion euros ($112.5 billion) in its AI sector at the Paris AI summit, according to President Emmanuel Macron. The investment package includes 20 billion euros from Canadian investment firm Brookfield and up to 50 billion euros from the United Arab Emirates, which will also fund a 1-gigawatt data centre.
Brookfield’s investment is expected to focus on developing data centre infrastructure, crucial for AI technology that requires massive amounts of energy to operate.With the demand for AI technology rising, Europe is aiming to secure necessary investments to meet the growing need for energy and infrastructure.
This comes amid global competition, as US President Donald Trump recently announced that companies like OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle would invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure over the next four years to ensure the US stays ahead in the global AI race.
Oracle has introduced new AI features to its NetSuite corporate finance software, aiming to streamline common business tasks. Unlike competitors focused on developing general-purpose AI assistants, Oracle is integrating targeted tools to automate tedious processes. One of the latest additions helps generate price quotes for complex purchases through chatbot-driven interactions, making it easier for businesses and consumers to configure products like customised bicycles.
The AI-powered quoting tool allows sales professionals to quickly compile prices based on customer requirements, reducing time spent on manual calculations. Oracle‘s approach focuses on enhancing efficiency rather than competing in the race to build massive AI models. Instead, the company partners with firms like Canadian startup Cohere to power its AI tools.
Oracle’s recent collaboration with OpenAI to build large data centres has raised speculation about further AI partnerships. While no formal announcements have been made, Oracle executives have indicated a willingness to work with OpenAI in the future. The company’s AI strategy prioritises practical applications that help businesses close deals faster and lower operational costs.
French startup Mistral AI has launched a new app for its generative AI assistant, Le Chat, as it seeks to compete with American and Chinese tech giants. The Paris-based company, backed by Nvidia, claims its AI model responds at speeds of up to 1,000 words per second. The release comes just before an AI summit in Paris, highlighting growing European interest in homegrown alternatives to dominant players like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
CEO Arthur Mensch emphasised the importance of European AI development, stating that Mistral aims to make AI more open and widely accessible. The company has secured major partnerships with firms such as Veolia and European government agencies, though it remains smaller than its US competitors. Mensch also acknowledged that DeepSeek, a rising Chinese AI firm, had benefited from Mistral’s open-source technology.
Despite its rapid growth and a valuation of €5.8 billion, Mistral AI is not planning an initial public offering in the near future. The company has raised over €1 billion and remains financially strong. Mensch believes European AI firms have a cultural role to play in shaping the industry and positioning themselves as credible alternatives to US and Chinese models.
Meta has launched a new initiative with UNESCO to enhance AI language recognition and translation, focusing on underserved languages. The Language Technology Partner Program invites collaborators to provide speech recordings, transcriptions, and translated texts to help train AI models. The finalised models will be open-sourced, allowing broader accessibility and research.
The government of Nunavut in Canada is among the early partners, contributing recordings in Inuktut, a language spoken by some Indigenous communities. Meta is also releasing an open-source machine translation benchmark to evaluate AI performance across seven languages, available on Hugging Face.
While Meta presents the initiative as a philanthropic effort, improved AI language tools could benefit the company’s broader goals. Meta AI continues to expand multilingual support, including automatic translation for content creators. However, the company has faced criticism for its handling of non-English content, with reports highlighting inconsistencies in content moderation across languages.
More than 100 organisations, including Amnesty International and the AI Now Institute, have called on the AI industry and regulators to address the technology’s growing environmental impact. In an open letter published ahead of a major AI conference in Paris, the signatories highlight concerns over emissions, reliance on fossil fuels, and resource depletion caused by AI infrastructure.
The letter urges tech companies and governments to ensure that data centres operate without fossil fuels, warning that electricity demand from AI could double by 2026, reaching levels equivalent to Japan‘s annual consumption. The expansion of AI infrastructure is also straining water and land resources, with data centres requiring vast amounts of water for cooling and humidity control. Transparency on AI’s full environmental impact is another key demand.
Despite these warnings, the US government appears committed to AI expansion, with President Donald Trump pushing for faster approvals of new power stations, including those reliant on coal. The letter’s signatories stress that unchecked AI growth disproportionately affects communities most vulnerable to climate change and call for a shift towards responsible and sustainable AI development.
Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest carmaker, has announced an expanded partnership with French AI firm Mistral. The move aims to accelerate the company’s ability to analyse industry data, improving decision-making speed. The integration of AI is becoming more common in the automotive sector, with many manufacturers using the technology to assess customer feedback and monitor manufacturing quality.
Ned Curic, Stellantis’ Chief Engineering and Technology Officer, highlighted the significance of this collaboration, noting that it enables the company to perform data analysis in minutes rather than weeks. This rapid processing allows for quicker decision-making, improving operational efficiency.
This strategic shift comes shortly after Stellantis underwent management changes following the unexpected departure of CEO Carlos Tavares in December. The restructuring appears to be part of a broader effort to streamline operations and better position the company for the future.
Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor and the nation’s top telecom providers are integrating DeepSeek’s cutting-edge AI model into their systems, marking a significant step in China’s push to lead the global AI race. Great Wall Motor, the country’s first listed car manufacturer, has incorporated DeepSeek’s technology into its ‘Coffee Intelligence’ connected vehicle system to enhance its smart car capabilities. Meanwhile, China’s three major telecom giants, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, are collaborating with DeepSeek to promote the widespread adoption of advanced AI solutions, signalling a broader effort to modernise the country’s tech infrastructure.
Integrating DeepSeek’s AI platform has ignited a wave of optimism among investors, who see it as a potential game-changer for China’s tech sector. Shares of AI-related companies, including chipmakers, software developers, and data centre operators, have recently surged as market participants bet on the transformative impact of the technology. However, some firms have tempered expectations, cautioning that the immediate business benefits remain uncertain. For instance, Capitalonline Data Service, a cloud computing provider, saw its shares soar 49% last week after deploying DeepSeek’s model but emphasised that the long-term financial impact is still unclear.
Similarly, MeiG Smart Technology, a Shenzhen-based company specialising in IoT devices, reported that its work on adapting DeepSeek’s AI is in its early stages and has yet to generate new revenue. Despite this, its shares jumped 33% in three days, reflecting the market’s enthusiasm for AI-driven innovation. Other tech heavyweights like Tencent and Huawei have also announced plans to integrate DeepSeek’s technology, further fueling the narrative of China’s AI ambitions.
Why does it matter?
The rapid adoption of DeepSeek’s AI model tells us a lot about China’s determination to compete globally in the AI arena, with both private and state-owned enterprises rallying behind the technology. While the immediate economic impact remains uncertain, the move underscores the growing importance of AI in reshaping industries from automotive to telecommunications.
OpenAI announced on Thursday that it is evaluating US states as potential locations for data centres supporting its ambitious Stargate project, which aims to secure the US’s lead in the global AI race. The project is seen as crucial for ensuring that AI development remains democratic and open, rather than falling under authoritarian control, according to Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer.
Stargate, a venture backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and other investors, is set to receive up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure. A significant portion of this investment, $100 billion, will be deployed immediately, with the rest scheduled over the next few years. Texas has been designated as the flagship location for Stargate’s data centres. An initial site under construction in Abilene is expected to begin operations later this year.
The announcement follows the rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model that challenges the traditional view that AI development requires large, specialised data centres. DeepSeek’s use of cheaper chips has raised concerns among investors, leading to a significant drop in tech stock values, including a record $593 billion loss for Nvidia, the leading AI chipmaker.
OpenAI is considering data centre locations in approximately 16 states, with plans to expand the Stargate network to five to ten campuses in the coming months.
Vice President JD Vance will lead the US delegation to a major AI summit in Paris next week, but technical staff from the AI Safety Institute will not be included. Around 100 countries will take part in discussions on AI’s potential during the event on 10 and 11 February.
Representatives from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will attend, including Principal Deputy Director Lynne Parker and Senior Policy Advisor Sriram Krishnan. However, the Trump administration has scrapped plans for officials from the Commerce and Homeland Security departments to join, including members of the AI Safety Institute.
The institute, created under former President Joe Biden, focuses on AI risk mitigation and has collaborated with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Its future under the new administration remains uncertain, especially following Trump’s decision to revoke a Biden-era AI executive order.
The absence of Commerce Department officials may reflect ongoing transitions following the 20 January inauguration. The Paris summit will focus less on AI dangers than previous meetings in Bletchley Park and Seoul, a topic dismissed by some in the technology sector.
French AI company Mistral has partnered with US chipmaker Cerebras Systems to achieve what it claims is a record-breaking AI response speed. Backed by UAE tech conglomerate G42, Cerebras is providing the computing power behind Mistral’s new AI assistant, which reportedly delivers responses at 1,000 words per second.
The newly launched app, Le Chat, positions Mistral as a major competitor to OpenAI, Meta, and China’s DeepSeek in the open-source AI race. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman highlighted that delivering faster and more accurate responses is now a key focus for AI development, requiring more computing power during inference.
Cerebras, known for challenging Nvidia in AI model training, has been expanding its presence in AI applications despite delays in its initial public offering due to US government reviews. Its collaboration with Mistral marks a significant milestone, as it is the first major partnership with a leading AI model developer.
