EU leaders meet in Dublin for first AI summit

European Union leaders met in Dublin on Friday for the bloc's first summit devoted to artificial intelligence, at the Convention Center that also hosted this week's European Political Community meeting.

Mistral chief executive Arthur Mensch told them Europe "has all the technology and the talent to lead the AI race" and urged leaders to "act now" to stay competitive with the United States and China. He said Europe needed speed and financing, with stronger coordination between member states.

Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel-prize winning researcher widely known as the "godfather of AI", addressed the leaders alongside Mensch.

European Council President Antonio Costa wrote on X that "AI is the most important technology of our time", saying Europe must capture benefits from higher productivity to better public services while managing the risks and helping set global standards for responsible governance.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said she was frustrated by the notion that Europe had "somehow lost the AI race", pointing to the bloc's "world-class talent, technological expertise and industrial experience". She said the priority was ensuring European ideas have the financing to grow and succeed in Europe.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said there is a "dark side" to AI, citing drones equipped with artificial intelligence on the battlefield in Ukraine. Kallas is the former prime minister of Estonia.

Ahead of the summit, the governments of Estonia and Finland wrote that Europe must "establish EU-level arrangements for responding to serious AI incidents", calling for developing advanced AI and governing it responsibly.

Leaders also face the question of how to protect against the risks the technology poses to individuals and businesses.