U.S. AI Safety Institute skips Paris summit

February 07, 2025 (MLN): The U.S. delegation to a major artificial intelligence summit in Paris next week will not include technical staff from the country's AI Safety Institute, two people close to Washington's plans for the event and a third source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Vice President JD Vance is leading the U.S. contingent to France, which is gathering around 100 countries to focus on AI's potential on February 10 and 11.

An OSTP spokesperson said that U.S. attendees will include members of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Principal Deputy Director Lynne Parker and Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence Sriram Krishnan will be among them, as Reuters reported.

However, President Donald Trump's administration has scrapped plans for Homeland Security and Commerce Department officials to attend.

Among those whose trips were canceled include representatives of the U.S. AI Safety Institute, said the people close to Washington's plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The AI Safety Institute did not immediately comment.

The Commerce and Homeland Security departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The institute, created under former President Joe Biden, is focused on measuring and mitigating certain risks from AI and has signed agreements with prominent U.S. startups OpenAI and Anthropic for safety testing.

It has said its work is bipartisan.

However, the new administration's plans for the fledgling body, now without a director, remain unclear.

Trump has revoked a separate AI executive order associated with Biden.

The people cautioned that the Paris absence likely reflected how the Commerce Department, in which the institute resides, was still in transition after Trump's January 20 inauguration.

The Paris summit also is less focused than prior global gatherings in Bletchley Park and Seoul on the dangers of AI, risks dismissed by some in the technology sector.

The International Network of AI Safety Institutes, chaired by the United States and comprised of various country members globally, is expected to have a presence, the people said.

Its long-in-progress work has involved the U.S.

U.S. delegates could take part in the network's discussions, the people said. Ensuring Washington leads on innovation has become more critical with China's recent success in AI, the people said.

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