Thu 19 Feb 2026 03.26 EST Last modified on Thu 19 Feb 2026 05.04 EST Share His remarks were echoed by António Guterres, the UN secretary general, who told delegates – including several US tech billionaires – that “no child should be a test subject for unregulated AI”. “The future of AI cannot be decided by a few countries or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” Guterres said. “AI must belong to everyone”. Bill Gates had been scheduled to speak but withdrew at the last minute amid renewed scrutiny of his past links to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Meanwhile, an attempt by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to stage a show of unity among leading tech billionaires went awry when the rival heads of OpenAI and Anthropic awkwardly declined to hold hands on stage. Modi stood at the centre of a line of 13 tech executives, including leaders from Google, Meta and Microsoft, who all raised clasped hands – apart from Sam Altman and Dario Amodei. Amodei split from OpenAI in 2021 over differences over how to manage safety risks. View image in fullscreen Narendra Modi poses with the CEOs of several AI companies, with Sam Altman and Dario Amodei the only two not clasping hands. Photograph: AP On Wednesday, the White House’s senior AI adviser, Sriram Krishnan, renewed the Trump administration’s criticism of AI regulation, singling out the EU’s AI Act. He told delegates he would continue to “rant” against legislation that was not “conducive to an entrepreneur who wants to build innovative technology”. But Macron told the intergovernmental summit: “Opposite to what some misinformed friends have been saying, Europe is not blindly focused on regulation. Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space, and safe spaces win in the long run.” Research published this month by Unicef and Interpol across 11 countries found at least 1.2 million children reported having their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year. In some countries, one in 25 children – the equivalent of one child in every classroom – had been affected. “There is no reason our children should be exposed online to what is legally forbidden in the real world,” Macron said. “Our platforms, governments and regulators should be working together to make the internet and social media a safe space. This is why, in France, we are embarking on a process to ban social networks for children under 15 years old.” Among the tech executives attending was Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, which is facing a legal challenge from the family of Adam Raine, a 16-year-old who took his own life after discussing suicide with ChatGPT. View image in fullscreen