Next week, Paris will host the AI Action Summit, where representatives from nearly 100 nations, including the US and China, will gather to discuss the future of AI. With the backing of both France and India, the summit aims to address AI development’s safe deployment, focusing on areas where France has a competitive edge, such as open-source systems and clean energy for powering data centres. The summit will also look at AI’s impact on labour markets and the promotion of national sovereignty in the increasingly global AI landscape.
Key industry figures, including top executives from Alphabet and Microsoft, are expected to attend. Discussions will involve a range of topics, including a potential non-binding communiqué that could reflect a global consensus on AI principles. However, it remains uncertain whether the US will align fully with other countries, given the Trump administration’s policies and tensions over issues like AI chip exports to China.
Unlike previous AI summits, which focused on safety regulations, the Paris event will not be creating new rules. Instead, the emphasis will be on how to ensure the benefits of AI reach developing nations, particularly through affordable AI models. In addition, France plans to showcase its clean energy capabilities, leveraging its nuclear power sector to address the growing energy demands of AI technologies, with some commitments expected from businesses and philanthropies to support public-interest AI projects globally.
Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal is investing $230 million into Krutrim, an AI startup he founded, as part of India’s push to establish itself in the global AI market. The company, which develops large language models (LLMs) for Indian languages, aims to raise a total of $1.15 billion by next year, with Aggarwal seeking additional funding from external investors.
In a significant move, Krutrim has made its AI models open source and announced plans to build India’s largest supercomputer in partnership with Nvidia. The firm recently introduced Krutrim-2, a 12-billion parameter model that has demonstrated strong performance in Indian language processing and code generation. It has also launched BharatBench, a new evaluation framework designed to assess AI models’ proficiency in Indian languages.
The investment follows the launch of Krutrim-1, India’s first large language model, and aligns with broader efforts to position India as a key player in AI, traditionally dominated by the US and China. Krutrim has also begun hosting Chinese AI lab DeepSeek’s models on domestic servers, signalling India’s growing role in the AI ecosystem. With a supercomputer set to go live in March, the company is poised for rapid expansion in the coming months.
Chinese internet users have been captivated by the DeepSeek AI app, which has gained immense popularity since its launch during the Lunar New Year holiday. Users have explored its predictive and analytical capabilities, with some posing questions on politics, economics, and even personal matters. For example, law professor Wang Jiangyu asked how China should respond to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, receiving a comprehensive seven-point answer that included potential new tariffs on US industries and other strategic moves. The model’s detailed responses have impressed users, though it censors certain politically sensitive topics, such as questions about Xi Jinping or the Tiananmen Square protests.
DeepSeek’s low-cost yet powerful AI has made waves in the tech sector, surpassing ChatGPT in downloads on the Apple App Store. The Hangzhou-based startup has become a source of national pride, with users sharing personal experiences, such as using the app to predict their fortunes or interpret dreams. This surge in popularity has drawn attention to the company’s rapid growth, and its founder, Liang Wengfeng, has emerged as a pop culture figure.
Despite its success, DeepSeek’s claims about the minimal cost of training its latest AI model—less than $6 million in computing power—have raised scepticism among some experts. Nevertheless, the platform’s effectiveness has prompted comparisons to the billions invested by US tech giants in AI development. The app’s rapid rise has also led to investigations by authorities in several countries, including Japan, South Korea, and several European nations, over concerns about its handling of personal data.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son announced on Monday that he has agreed with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to establish a joint venture in Japan, called SB OpenAI Japan, to offer AI services to corporate clients. This venture will be jointly owned by OpenAI and a company set up by SoftBank and its telecoms arm. In addition, SoftBank will pay $3 billion annually to integrate OpenAI’s technology across its group companies.
Son’s involvement with OpenAI is deepening, with reports indicating that SoftBank plans to invest between $15 billion and $25 billion in the company. SoftBank is also committing $15 billion to Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle to build AI capacity in the US. Son’s support for OpenAI follows a period of retrenchment for the investment giant, but he is reasserting his influence in the tech sector after setbacks in SoftBank’s tech portfolio.
In the context of rising competition, China’s DeepSeek has prompted some investors to question the immense funds being poured into US-based AI companies. However, Altman believes global demand for AI computing power will continue to surge. Son and Altman also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday to discuss further developments.
DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, is shaking up the ΑΙ landscape by offering technology at a significantly lower cost compared to US competitors like OpenAI. Hemanth Mandapati, CEO of German startup Novo AI, recently switched to DeepSeek’s chatbot services, noting that the transition was quick and easy, and the cost savings were substantial. Mandapati reported that DeepSeek’s pricing was five times lower than what he was paying, with no noticeable difference in user performance. Analysts estimate that DeepSeek’s prices are 20 to 40 times cheaper than OpenAI’s, making it an attractive option for many startups.
The rise of DeepSeek is seen as a potential game-changer, particularly in Europe, where tech startups have struggled to compete with their US counterparts due to limited funding. Some believe DeepSeek’s low-cost offerings could democratise AI and help level the playing field with major tech companies. However, concerns about DeepSeek’s data practices, particularly regarding the potential copying of OpenAI’s data or censorship of Chinese content, have raised regulatory questions across Europe.
Despite scepticism around the actual cost of DeepSeek’s training and data usage, the company has garnered significant attention, especially after its model topped the productivity app rankings on the Apple App Store. Industry leaders argue that this shift in pricing could spark a broader movement in AI, with smaller companies gaining more access to advanced technologies without needing large budgets. This could foster innovation across the sector, although major corporations remain cautious due to security and integration concerns.
As the cost of AI continues to fall, competition is intensifying. For example, Microsoft recently made OpenAI’s reasoning model available for free to users of its Copilot platform. While price is becoming a dominant factor in AI adoption, industry experts suggest that trust and security certifications will still play a critical role for larger businesses when choosing their AI partners.
The US administration under President Donald Trump is weighing stricter controls on Nvidia’s H20 chips, which were specifically designed for the Chinese market. Discussions, still in the early stages, build on previous export restrictions established by former President Joe Biden to limit the shipment of advanced AI chips to China. Nvidia’s H20 chips comply with existing US regulations but could face additional curbs due to concerns about China’s rapid progress in AI technology.
The potential restrictions come amid mounting unease about China‘s competitive edge in AI. Recent developments, such as the launch of DeepSeek‘s cost-efficient AI assistant, have intensified worries that China may be narrowing the gap with the US in AI development. RAND researcher Lennart Heim revealed that the possibility of further controls on AI chip exports had been discussed for over six months, originating during Biden’s tenure.
Nvidia has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the US government as the administration formulates its policy on AI exports. The company’s stock, already trading lower, saw additional losses following the report. Despite previous restrictions, Nvidia’s H20 chips have so far remained compliant with US regulations and available for shipment to China.
Apple has announced that its AI suite, Apple Intelligence, will support additional languages starting in April, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese. The update will also introduce localised English versions for India and Singapore, broadening access to the technology beyond its initial US English release.
The expansion follows a December update that brought support for various English dialects, including those used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. However, Apple has yet to confirm when its AI suite will be available in the EU or mainland China.
CEO Tim Cook also revealed that the next version of Siri, which will feature improved on-screen contextual understanding, is expected to launch in the coming months. The update marks Apple’s latest effort to strengthen its AI ecosystem and compete with rivals in the artificial intelligence space.
ABB is optimistic about the growth of the data centre market despite recent concerns over the rise of energy-efficient AI models such as DeepSeek. The Chinese AI system, which requires fewer chips to run, recently triggered a selloff in tech stocks, raising fears that demand for high-power data centre infrastructure could decline. However, ABB CEO Morten Wierod said key customers have confirmed their investment plans remain unchanged.
The company has benefited significantly from the expansion of data centres, with orders in this segment rising by 23% annually between 2019 and 2023. The sector now accounts for 15% of ABB’s electrification business, up from 8% in 2022. While Wierod declined to give a forecast for 2025, he expressed confidence in continued demand, particularly in China.
ABB sees further opportunities in helping data centres reduce energy consumption. Its technology, including motors and power management systems, can improve efficiency by up to 60%. With AI infrastructure investments accelerating, spurred by a $500 billion commitment from the US government, the company believes the sector will remain a key driver of growth in the coming years.
The US Commerce Department is investigating whether DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company that recently launched a high-performing assistant, has been using US chips in violation of export restrictions. These chips are prohibited from being shipped to China, raising concerns about DeepSeek’s rapid rise in the AI sector. Within days of launching, its app became the most downloaded on Apple’s App Store, contributing to a significant drop in US tech stocks, which lost around $1 trillion in value.
The US has imposed strict limits on the export of advanced AI chips to China, particularly those made by Nvidia. These restrictions aim to prevent China from accessing the most sophisticated AI processors. However, reports suggest that AI chip smuggling from countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE may be circumventing these measures. DeepSeek has admitted to using Nvidia’s H800 chips, which were legally purchased in 2023, but it is unclear whether it has used other restricted components.
The controversy deepened when Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei commented that DeepSeek’s AI chip fleet likely includes both legal and smuggled chips, some of which were shipped before restrictions were fully enforced. While DeepSeek has claimed to use only the less powerful H20 chips, which are still permitted to be sold to China, the investigation continues whether these practices undermine US efforts to limit China’s access to cutting-edge AI technologies.
Chinese state-backed social media accounts played a key role in amplifying the launch of DeepSeek’s AI models last week, according to an analysis by the firm Graphika. These accounts, including those of Chinese diplomats and media outlets, used platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and Weibo to highlight DeepSeek’s challenge to US dominance in the AI sector. This online activity coincided with a significant drop in US tech stocks, including a record one-day loss for Nvidia, shedding $593 billion in market value.
Graphika’s report suggested that this was part of a broader strategy by China to use AI to enhance its global influence and counter American leadership in critical technological fields. The surge in online discussion about DeepSeek’s AI capabilities was noticeable, especially on X, where it surpassed US rival ChatGPT in downloads from Apple’s app store shortly after its release. DeepSeek’s AI assistant also claimed to have been developed at a much lower cost than US competitors, raising concerns about a potential price war in the sector.
While China celebrates DeepSeek’s advancements as a victory over US efforts to limit its tech growth, the US has raised suspicions about whether the company improperly accessed American technology. The Commerce Department is investigating whether DeepSeek used banned US chips in its models, further intensifying tensions between the two countries over AI and tech competition. Meanwhile, major US companies like Microsoft and Meta continue their AI investments despite the challenges.
