In Davos, China calls for global “red lines” on artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly the subject at the heart of all conversations at the Davos Forum, the 54th edition of which began in earnest this Tuesday morning. Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang, who was expected to speak about his country's faltering economy and world affairs, also addressed the popular theme during his plenary speech, in front of some 1,500 participants. It was the first time that a senior Chinese leader spoke again in this temple of globalization since the Covid-19 pandemic.

AI, said the Chinese Prime Minister, is “like a double-edged knife”, “used wisely, it can bring (…) progress for industry, science, but, on the other side of the coin, it can pose problems in terms of security and ethics. The Beijing hierarch was careful not to mention the massive use of facial recognition, which uses AI, which is widely criticized in the West. “China believes that AI must serve the good of humanity.” To this end, “there are red lines that must not be crossed, which must apply to all stakeholders”. “Who should make the rules?” asked Li Qiang. “If they are set by a few countries, we cannot speak of multilateralism,” he said, invoking the United Nations Charter.

Was this an allusion to the European Union, which has just legislated on AI? The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, succeeded Li Qiang on the stage of the large plenary hall, without however meeting him. She recalled that the EU, with its “Artificial Intelligence Act”, was a pioneer in the world in the regulation of AI. “An example of how democracy and business can reinforce each other,” added “VDL”, a Davos regular. The head of the European executive referred to the report on global risks, published last week by the World Economic Forum, as a curtain-raiser to the Davos summit, which places disinformation as danger number 1. And this is all the more threatening as it is facilitated by AI tools. “Be careful, I am optimistic about technology, as a trained doctor, I know that AI has already generated a revolution in medicine and can boost productivity,” underlined the German. Which does not prevent him from pleading for “responsible use of AI in the service of society”.

In order not to be left behind in the face of the American tech giants, almost all of whose bosses are at the Davos Forum, Ursula von der Leyen spoke of the strengths of the EU. According to her, Europe has 200,000 IT engineers specializing in AI, “more than China or the United States”. The EU will provide European start-ups with “supercomputers” as well as access to data.

Beyond AI, the Chinese Prime Minister of course mentioned the economy of the second world power. To put the slowdown in Chinese growth into perspective, he advised "taking a step back", as one does when looking at the peaks of the Alps, to no longer see only the undulations and peaks, but to have a "vision panoramic". Li Qiang pleaded for multilateralism, in line with Xi Jinping's speech in Davos in January 2017. The Red Emperor, speaking a few days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, presented himself as a champion of free trade and cooperation, triggering rounds of applause from the CEOs of the biggest companies on the planet.

On Tuesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, wanted to show that Europeans are no longer naive. Recalling that China is “one of our greatest partners”, “VDL” recalled that it did not want “decoupling” between the two economies but “de-risking”. She advocates for fair access to markets and to reduce excessive dependencies. Which seems to contradict Li Qiang's proposal, formulated a few minutes before, to “strengthen the specialization” of countries. It is precisely because China has specialized, for example across the entire graphite value chain, that Europe finds itself tied hand and foot in the face of Chinese suppliers who hold a virtual global monopoly on this strategic mineral. Ursula von der Leyen explicitly criticized Beijing's control of its exports of two critical metals for the energy transition, gallium and germanium. In this temple of happy globalization and multilateralism that is the Davos Forum, and which chose “restore trust” as its slogan this year, it was clear that there is still a way to go to restore it.