In an update sent to heads of American publishing houses regarding the highly-publicized Artificial Intelligence Action Summit hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron February 10-11, Association of American Publishers CEO Maria Pallante reported that the AAP received a “mixed read-out” from her counterparts at the French Publishing Association.

A statement released at the conclusion of the summit affirmed the main priorities of the attendees:

  • Promoting AI accessibility to reduce digital divides
  • Ensuring AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy, taking into account international frameworks for all
  • Making innovation in AI thrive by enabling conditions for its development and avoiding market concentration driving industrial recovery and development
  • Encouraging AI deployment that positively shapes the future of work and labor markets and delivers opportunity for sustainable growth
  • Making AI sustainable for people and the planet
  • Reinforcing international cooperation to promote coordination in international governance

What the statement did not do, Pallante underscored, was “position intellectual property rights as a priority.” In another disappointment, the statement did not reference the "International Charter on Culture and Innovation" that the AAP and other members of the International Publishers Association released at the summit.

On a positive note, Pallante said IP was “mentioned at a high level as an area for global reflection.” Pallante also reported that the summit included an “excellent session on the role of copyright in fostering human progress.”

Among the speakers at the meeting was Vice President J.D. Vance, who warned that imposing too much regulation could slow down AI development. “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off,” CNN quoted Vance as saying. In January, President Donald Trump repealed former President Joe Biden’s order that set out actions to manage AI’s national security risks and prevent discrimination by AI systems, among other goals.

In her head-of-house update, Pallante reiterated that “copyright protection is a critical part of the regulatory equation for AI.” She added that, at the moment, the most pressing legal questions for U.S. publishers—over unauthorized reproduction of protected authorship for training and subsequent derivative uses—remain largely in U.S. courts. Concurrently, authorized licensing deals continue to occur, Pallante wrote, providing publishers and authors “opportunities for both control and compensation.”