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Local France
19-05-2025
- Business
- Local France
France to unveil €37 billion in foreign investment at Versailles summit
Of the total, €20 billion are "entirely new" projects - a record for the event, which drew €15 billion in commitments last year. The remaining €17 billion was announced in February and has now been finalised and tied to specific sites, the presidency added. Among the headline deals, US logistics giant Prologis is set to invest €6.4 billion in four data centres in the greater Paris Île-de-France region, according to the newspaper Le Parisien. Emirati investors are also committing €8 billion as part of a larger €50-billion data infrastructure project, previously flagged in February, La Tribune reported. Advertisement Amazon is expected to announce a €300-million development, while Le Figaro reported four other major projects totalling €800 million. They include €90 million from German automaker Daimler to expand its electric bus plant in Ligny-en-Barrois and €450 million from US recycler Circ for a textile recycling facility in Moselle. The government also announced plans to reform the textile recycling sector, calling the current model "exhausted". Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos told La Tribune that France remained "very important" for the platform. It has employed 25,000 French actors and technicians between 2021 and 2024 on productions including Lupin, Tapie and Sous la Seine. Macron will host several roundtables, including on artificial intelligence and energy transition. Attendees include South Korean executives, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Stella Li of China's BYD, and the CEO of Saudi entertainment firm Qiddiya. Gulf sovereign wealth funds Mubadala, PIF and QIA will also be present, with Macron set to open the Paris office of the Saudi Public Investment Fund on Tuesday.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
France to unveil €37 bn in foreign investment at Versailles summit: presidency
France will announce 37 billion euros ($41.3 billion) in foreign investment on Monday as President Emmanuel Macron hosts more than 200 top executives at a business summit in Versailles, the French presidency said. Of the total, 20 billion euros are "entirely new" projects -- a record for the event, which drew 15 billion euros in commitments last year. The remaining 17 billion euros was announced in February and has now been finalised and tied to specific sites, the presidency added. Among the headline deals, US logistics giant Prologis is set to invest 6.4 billion euros in four data centres in the Ile-de-France region, according to the newspaper Le Parisien. Emirati investors are also committing 8 billion euros as part of a larger 50-billion-euro data infrastructure project, previously flagged in February, La Tribune reported. Amazon is expected to announce a 300-million-euro development, while Le Figaro reported four other major projects totalling 800 million euros. They include 90 million euros from German automaker Daimler to expand its electric bus plant in Ligny-en-Barrois and 450 million euros from US recycler Circ for a textile recycling facility in Moselle. The government also announced plans to reform the textile recycling sector, calling the current model "exhausted". Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos told La Tribune that France remained "very important" for the platform. It has employed 25,000 French actors and technicians between 2021 and 2024 on productions including "Lupin", "Tapie" and "Sous la Seine". Macron will host several roundtables, including on artificial intelligence and energy transition. Attendees include South Korean executives, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Stella Li of China's BYD, and the CEO of Saudi entertainment firm Qiddiya. Gulf sovereign wealth funds Mubadala, PIF and QIA will also be present, with Macron set to open the Paris office of the Saudi Public Investment Fund on Tuesday. od/srg/jj
France 24
18-05-2025
- Business
- France 24
France to unveil €37 bn in foreign investment at Versailles summit: presidency
Of the total, 20 billion euros are "entirely new" projects -- a record for the event, which drew 15 billion euros in commitments last year. The remaining 17 billion euros was announced in February and has now been finalised and tied to specific sites, the presidency added. Among the headline deals, US logistics giant Prologis is set to invest 6.4 billion euros in four data centres in the Ile-de-France region, according to the newspaper Le Parisien. Emirati investors are also committing 8 billion euros as part of a larger 50-billion-euro data infrastructure project, previously flagged in February, La Tribune reported. Amazon is expected to announce a 300-million-euro development, while Le Figaro reported four other major projects totalling 800 million euros. They include 90 million euros from German automaker Daimler to expand its electric bus plant in Ligny-en-Barrois and 450 million euros from US recycler Circ for a textile recycling facility in Moselle. The government also announced plans to reform the textile recycling sector, calling the current model "exhausted". Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos told La Tribune that France remained "very important" for the platform. It has employed 25,000 French actors and technicians between 2021 and 2024 on productions including "Lupin", "Tapie" and "Sous la Seine". Macron will host several roundtables, including on artificial intelligence and energy transition. Attendees include South Korean executives, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Stella Li of China's BYD, and the CEO of Saudi entertainment firm Qiddiya.
Euronews
12-05-2025
- Business
- Euronews
French AI minister on mission to ‘protect minors' from social media
France's digital affairs and artificial intelligence (AI) minister is on a mission to unify Europe to force social media companies to put on age verification markers, adding that there should be no social networks for those under the age of 15. Clara Chappaztold French media on Sunday that the country has three months to 'mobilise its European partners' for an agreement that obliges social media platforms to verify the age of their users, and failing to do so would result in sanctions. 'My job today is to rally a coalition, with Spain, Greece, and now Ireland, to convince the European Commission,' the 35-year-old minister said. 'If we don't succeed by the autumn, France will take responsibility. In the absence of a European agreement, France will have to take action,' she added. France has taken a hard stance against social media use and screen time for children. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was in favour of banning phones before the age of 11 and no social media for those under 15. Chappaz agreed with him and in an interview with the French publication La Tribune said: 'No social networking before the age of 15'. Despite Europe's Digital Services Act (DSA) having an age framework, Chappaz said that the bloc needs 'to go further to strengthen its scope, so that it forces social networks not to accept the creation of accounts without age verification'. However, getting age verification right is difficult as many children can lie and get around such restrictions, experts have previously told Euronews Next. Social media platforms such as Meta and TikTok have already put age verification measures in place. But some have said that it is difficult to verify user age. Chappaz, however, argues that this is an 'excuse' which is 'false'. 'The platforms, which are among the most technologically advanced companies, know everything about our children: their tastes, their sleep patterns, the videos they watch when they're not well,' she told La Tribune. 'They are capable of pushing targeted content to an 11-year-old, but they wouldn't know whether he was 13 or 15'. 'Fast, reliable, anonymous technologies that do not store personal data for recognition already exist,' she added. In the interview on Sunday, she spoke about her 10-day without screens campaign, which began on Monday. 'The idea is not to stigmatise. It's about taking a step back to better understand the impact of digital technology on our lives and to regain control,' she said. 'I want every family and every class to be able to ask themselves the same question: what role do we want to leave to screens, and, in particular, social networks, in the development of our children? 'I refuse to allow algorithms to raise our children, to dictate what they should see and feel, and who they should look like,' she added. The minister has also championed the end of #SkinnyTok weight-loss content, where those on social media promote extreme thinness with messages such as 'if you're in a calorie deficit and your stomach rumbles, congratulate yourself'. She referred the matter of such videos to the French digital watchdog Arcom and requested an investigation by the European Commission, Chappaz said on LinkedIn. 'Digital technology is a wonderful tool, but it can also shatter lives. Protecting minors online is my priority. I won't give up,' she wrote. You may have noticed in recent weeks the appearance of a benign blue-pink-green-hued circle in all your Meta-owned apps and perhaps wondered what it is. But other users have already expressed annoyance about this new artificial intelligence (AI) feature in WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, especially since it can't be deleted. The AI assistant has been rolled out on Meta apps since March, but the move hasn't been smooth sailing. "The fact that the feature cannot be disabled is a clear violation of the obligation of Meta to implement measures that respect user privacy by design," Kleanthi Sardeli, a data protection lawyer for the NOYB non-profit, told Euronews Next. "Essentially, Meta is forcing this new feature upon users and trying to avoid what would be the lawful path forward, asking users for their consent," she added. Meta AI is a conversational agent (or chatbot) powered by AI. More precisely, it is powered by Llama, the large language model (LLM) developed by the company. "Whether you're planning a group trip, brainstorming dinner ideas, settling an ongoing debate, or just looking to add some fun to your chat, Meta AI is your on-call assistant," the company said. Meta AI works in the same way as any other chatbot does by responding to the queries the users send it. A lot of users expressed their annoyance at the feature being added by default and hard - if not impossible - to remove, prompting discussions on a Reddit subreddit about how to disable it on WhatsApp. Some users reached out last month to MEP Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová from the social-liberal Progressive party in Slovakia, who has since asked the Commission if the feature aligned with EU rules. Overall, a rising number of people are expressing a sort of "AI fatigue" amid the constant rollout of new applications or new features. Meta was already under fire for the "opt-in by default" feeding of its model with users' data based in Europe unless they explicitly refused to have their data used. Sardeli added that Meta wasn't "transparent enough" regarding how it was using the users' data. "AI technologies" is an umbrella term that includes a wide range of technologies, which are mostly unknown to the average user of Meta products,' the lawyer from NOYB said. "Meta has an obligation to inform its users about exactly what it does with their personal data, an obligation which it is currently trying its best to avoid," she added. The feature can't be disabled; however, it's possible to mute the AI chat in WhatsApp by long pressing on the chat and tapping the option. To opt-out of the data training, users can submit an objection request via the dedicated form. Though some websites advertise downgrading the version on Android - it can't be done on iOS - by downloading an old version of the app, this solution isn't recommended for security reasons. Meta AI was rolled out as a new feature across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, the applications owned by Meta. Launched first in the US in September 2023, it became accessible to European users this year. The circle icon is available to users in six languages: French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. It's also available on Ray-Ban smart glasses in several European countries, including Germany, Austria, and Belgium.
Maroc
06-05-2025
- Business
- Maroc
Morocco Featured as Guest of Honor at 4th Europe-Africa Forum in Marseille
The 4th Europe-Africa Forum kicked off on Tuesday in Marseille, southeastern France, with Morocco as the guest of honor. This business-focused event brings together leaders, investors, and decision-makers from both continents. Morocco is represented at the forum by Minister of Transport and Logistics Abdessamad Kayouh; Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali; Minister Delegate in charge of Investment, Convergence, and the Evaluation of Public Policies Karim Zidane; and the Kingdom's ambassador to France, Samira Sitaïl. The forum, which highlights key challenges and opportunities in Africa-Europe relations, opened with a high-level segment dedicated to Morocco. According to organizers, the event takes place in a shifting global context, where Europe and Africa, working together, form a powerful force capable of shaping the international landscape. Organized by the French economic publication La Tribune and the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the one-day forum features thematic roundtables addressing a range of pressing topics, including financing innovation, the role of business and education, and Agenda 2063 as a roadmap for a new era in Europe-Africa cooperation. MAP: 06 mai 2025
