At a landmark gathering of world leaders and tech billionaires in Delhi, French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a pointed rebuke to those dismissing European AI regulation as anti-innovation. The occasion was the AI Impact Summit, and the stakes — both political and human — could hardly have been higher. Macron’s message was as clear as it was urgent: protecting children from digital abuse is not a bureaucratic concern; it is a moral imperative.
The backdrop to his speech was deeply troubling. Research published this month by Unicef and Interpol revealed that 1.2 million children in 11 countries had been victims of AI-generated sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year alone. The figures are staggering — in some nations, one in 25 children has been affected. These are not abstract statistics. They represent real children in real classrooms, their images twisted and weaponised by technology that operates faster than any law.
Macron was unapologetic in defending the EU’s AI Act against criticism from the Trump administration’s senior AI adviser, who described it as hostile to entrepreneurs. The French president countered that Europe is a space for innovation — but also a safe one, and safe spaces, he argued, ultimately win. His tone was measured but firm, the kind of calm conviction that carries weight in rooms full of people used to getting their own way.
António Guterres, speaking from the same stage, warned that AI monopolies pose a danger not just to markets but to democracy itself. He called on world leaders to ensure that the most powerful technology in human history is governed transparently and equitably. OpenAI’s Sam Altman, also in attendance, predicted that by the end of 2028, more of the world’s intellectual capacity could reside inside data centres than in human minds — a prospect that underscores the urgency of the debate.
France’s G7 presidency, Macron made clear, will push hard on child safety online. With plans to ban social media for under-15s already underway domestically, the French president is putting concrete policy behind his rhetoric. In an era when AI governance risks being left to the powerful few, Macron’s intervention in Delhi was a reminder that democratic governments still have a role to play.