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Thousands of tech enthusiasts attended Europe’s self-proclaimed biggest startup event VivaTech in Paris on Wednesday, with artificial intelligence stealing the show this year.
Over four days, the event, now in its eighth year, will host more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers, according to organizers.
The star will take the stage Thursday — former US climate envoy and secretary of state John Kerry is expected to push for a green tech revolution, and billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X Elon Musk will appear via video link at the reply to questions from the audience.
“Artificial intelligence will be at the core of everything you’ll see,” VivaTech founder Maurice Levy said in his opening remarks.
On the same stage, France’s digital affairs minister Marina Ferrari urged the audience: “Don’t be afraid” of artificial intelligence.
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“With the acceleration of artificial intelligence we are experiencing a real revolution, which could be compared to printing or electricity,” he said.
Alongside dire warnings from critics that artificial intelligence could take over the world, the technology uses vast energy resources.
Companies like OpenAI, which use publicly available information for their programs, have been widely accused of copyright and privacy violations — most recently apologizing to actress Scarlett Johansson after she appeared to use her voice for their chatbot.
“AI Tsunami”
As guests crammed into the Paris convention center, a number of startups began giving pitches and pitches for funding.
In “AI alley,” companies from France to South Korea demonstrated how artificial intelligence can be developed for everything from controlling devices to hand movements at home to combating disinformation.
Dima Gazda, CEO of the American startup Esper Bionics, showed his company’s innovative robotic limbs adapted to a person’s needs by artificial intelligence.
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“We’re hoping to get potential partners and new teammates and potential investors,” Gazda said of his first trip to VivaTech.
Established players such as ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Anthropic and Mistral will take to the main stages to describe their latest innovations.
In the face of this “tsunami of artificial intelligence,” said CCS Insight’s Ben Wood, companies should be careful not to overwhelm their potential customers.
“There are many exciting things about artificial intelligence, but you have to articulate very clearly what the benefits are for consumers,” he told AFP.
“Because we’re fast approaching AI fatigue when humans just tune out.”
The event regularly attracts major political figures, with EU heavyweights Thierry Breton and Charles Michel expected to attend.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron, a regular attendee, is unlikely to attend this year.
Instead, Macron traveled to the French territory of New Caledonia on Wednesday, some 17,000 kilometers from Paris.
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The Pacific territory has endured days of unrest after indigenous Kanaks rejected changes to voting rules that would have strengthened the influence of the newly arrived people.
Source: AFP