Macron: French AI boom could help EU close tech innovation gap with U.S. and China

• Europe is pursuing AI innovation, tech regulation and competition with China differently than the United States, French President Emmanuel Macron says.
• "It's insane to have a world where the big giants just come from China and the U.S," Macron told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin in an exclusive interview.
• Technology leaders descended on Paris this week for the VivaTech innovation trade show.

PARIS, France — Europe is pursuing AI innovation, tech regulation and competition with China in very different ways than the United States, French President Emmanuel Macron said this week, as the continent seeks to become the third major global tech force in what is now a U.S.-China dominated landscape.

"It's insane to have a world where the big giants just come from China and the U.S," Macron told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin in an exclusive interview Tuesday in Paris.

"We need much more European big players, and I think Mistral AI can be one of them," Macron said of France's leading AI company. Microsoft recently invested 15 million euros ($16.3 million) into Mistral.

Macron also praised H, the newly launched French AI startup that announced this week it had raised a massive $220 million from its initial round of financing.

"I think it's even good for the U.S. ecosystem to have a very vivid, vibrant and ambitious European ecosystem," he said.

Macron spoke to CNBC as technology leaders descended on Paris for the VivaTech innovation trade show. On Tuesday, the Elysee Palace hosted a group of business leaders and engineers in AI, on the eve of the show.

The trade show and the meetings came on the heels of a wave of new private investments in the country, led by a commitment from Microsoft of 4 billion euros, its largest ever to France.

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