Emmanuel Macron is making a point. He’s shared deepfake videos of his face superimposed on to celebrities’ bodies.
One includes the French AI president sporting a mullet, another shows him dancing to the disco hit Voyage, Voyage. There’s Macron rapping, having a hairstyling lesson and appearing in the spy-comedy film OSS117.
We want to embark on the AI revolution
JD Vance,
US Vice President
At one point he’s the US action hero MacGyver. It’s not sinister, this isn’t a collection his security has downloaded from social media; it’s all been done with his approval. As he says, excitedly: “That’s really me.”
It's to show the brilliance of tech, heralding the launch of France’s two-day AI Action Summit in Paris. World leaders are attending, along with AI superstars, such as OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Macron is co-hosting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As a statement of power and intent, the gathering at the Grand Palais takes some beating. It’s designed to show French, and by extension EU, commitment to developing and expanding AI, backed by heavyweight global investment totalling $109 billion, up to $50 billion of which is coming from UAE.
“This is the equivalent for France of what the US announced for Stargate,” said Macron, referencing US President Donald Trump’s $500 billion AI infrastructure project to harness Chat GPT, Oracle and SoftBank. The medley of fake videos, said Macron, was the fun part, the amuse-bouche. “More seriously, with artificial intelligence, we can do some very big things: change health care, energy, life in our society. France and Europe must be at the heart of this revolution to seize every opportunity and also to promote our principles.
That is the takeaway, that France and the EU are in a race and they will not be left behind. Until recently, there was the nagging feeling that Europe did not take AI seriously, or at least it was not as smitten as the two powerhouses of the US and China. For so long a cradle of innovation and advancement, the bloc was preferring to dwell on past glories, rather than forging ahead. The “M&M” conference is intended to put that doubt to rest.
Even the choice of Macron’s co-chairman is redolent with symbolism. Modi’s India is grasping AI as an opportunity to make a dramatic leap, allying home-grown talent to a vast underlying need and appetite. The combination of France, EU, India and the UAE has the potential to be more than a match for American and Chinese muscle.
With good reason, the French media and public are entranced. This represents a huge step forward, restoring national pride, appealing to youth, embracing technology. It puts their country and its neighbours on an international par, for once pushing Silicon Valley and its accompanying razzamatazz to the sidelines. It plays as well to historical strength. Like Britain, France and its EU members have excelled previously – and love saying so – but have proved unable or unwilling to draw on that legacy to progress AI, not in a concerted, focused manner.
While no one doubts Macron’s seriousness and vision, the test will be just how far France and the EU want to proceed and at what pace. Ironically, while their President used clever montages to illustrate the brilliant potential of AI, local sceptics were lining up to carp at AI’s harmful side, highlighting the use of content without permission – in material just like Macron’s opening montage, except often much worse.
There is a fear of Europe allowing itself to be ground down in regulation, concentrating on the negative aspects of AI and failing to see the technology for what it is and more importantly, what it can achieve. The most vital statistic of all, amid a sea of research and surveys, should be the one from the World Economic Forum, that AI could add €2.7 billion to Europe’s economy by 2030. This ought to be the overriding number, not least for a region that has been slowing economically.
Rowing about the rules while China catapults DeepSeek and Donald Trump’s US deregulates apace cannot be the answer. That’s not to say attention must be afforded to AI’s downside, of course it must but it’s a matter of degree.
Where the EU and, indeed, Britain are concerned, there is the suspicion that the new tech is instinctively viewed as alien, to be challenged and picked apart, based on cultural values rather than something to be wholeheartedly embraced and nurtured. Those non-scientific politicians and social commentators, many of them older, prefer to drive in the slow lane not the fast highway.
As new US Vice President JD Vance warned at the Paris summit: “We want to embark on the AI revolution before us with the spirit of openness and collaboration, but to create that kind of trust we need international regulatory regimes that foster creation.” He went on to echo complaints from US companies of European efforts to rein in big tech, calling for a legal regime that “does not strangle” AI.
Inevitably, there will be those who immediately rebel against Vance, playing the man, together with his boss, and not the message.
Vance did not say regulation-free, he was seeking a framework that would also allow AI to flourish. That, surely, should be France and the EU’s goal. They have the resources – the backing of the likes of Macron, educational excellence and, thanks to UAE and others, the requisite funding. AI is theirs for the taking.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
