On November 22nd, Clara Chappaz, France’s Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, participated in a live recording of the TechHype podcast at UC Berkeley. The event, co-sponsored by the CITRIS Policy Lab, focused on “The Future of AI Governance” and drew an audience of approximately 50 attendees. Chappaz, previously a leader in sustainability-focused fashion companies like Vestiaire Collective, is the first to hold a ministerial role explicitly tied to AI in France—a testament to the field's growing importance in national and global policymaking.
Chappaz began by contextualizing France’s AI strategy within European and global frameworks. She traced the strategy's roots to 2018, when France launched its first national AI initiative aimed at bolstering research, training programs, and fostering “AI clusters.” France has since entered a second phase of its strategy, emphasizing the integration of AI into daily life and public administration. Healthcare, she noted, is a particularly promising domain where France aspires to lead in impactful AI applications. She also highlighted the pivotal role of nuclear energy in sustainably powering the country’s AI advancements, strengthening its leadership in clean energy innovation.
Addressing societal concerns, Chappaz recounted an anecdote from her arrival in the U.S.: upon landing, the first words she heard were, “Please make sure AI does not kill my job.” This sentiment, she noted, underscores the urgency of tackling AI’s impact on labor markets. She emphasized the need for safeguards to protect workers and ensure AI augments, rather than replaces, human roles. Building public trust, she argued, hinges on better education and transparent communication about AI technologies and their operations.
A significant portion of Chappaz’s talk centered on international collaboration, particularly in preparation for the upcoming AI Summit in Paris. She outlined three primary goals for the summit: governance, the common good, and sustainability. On governance, Chappaz underscored the challenges posed by fragmented regulatory approaches, using California as an example, where 18 separate AI-related regulations currently exist. She advocated for harmonized global standards to ensure consistency and effectiveness. Regarding sustainability, she championed the development of smaller, energy-efficient AI models as a critical step toward reducing the environmental footprint of AI technologies.
Audience questions sparked dynamic discussions on AI safety, transparency in training data, and copyright issues, including recent lawsuits involving generative AI systems. In response, Chappaz revealed that France is convening a group of experts to address these challenges, with a detailed report already in progress.
In her closing remarks, Chappaz stressed the importance of public-private collaboration in fostering responsible AI innovation and building trust among stakeholders. She highlighted the Ministry’s role in forging cross-sector partnerships and ensuring that AI advancements align with societal interests and ethical standards