JD Vance stormed out of a dinner with heads of state on Monday night when the Chinese vice-premier “started singing the praises of trade and the UN”, according to a reporter in the room.
Dominique Seux, the only French journalist present at the dinner at Paris’s Elysée palace on Monday night, said the US vice-president, clearly saw the speech – delivered by Zhang Guoqing – as “pure anti-Trumpist”.
Mr Vance was not the only big name to cut short his dinner, held to mark a major two-day AI Action summit in Paris’ Grand Palais.
Sam Altman, the OpenAI boss, also left early when he received Elon Musk’s offer to buy his company during the dinner.
Mr Altman rejected the offer from Mr Musk to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion.
“No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” Mr Altman responded on X.
Mr Musk, who bought X under its former moniker for $44 billion in 2022, replied to the post by simply writing: “Swindler.”
Guests at the dinner were reportedly “quietly following the whole thing on their phones”, according to Seux, who added the gathering was a mixture of “optimism and stress regarding AI”.
Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech at the end of the first day of the AI Action Summit on Monday – LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images
Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, warned: “If AI doesn’t benefit all citizens, then trust in science will fall dramatically.”
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, spoke out against the advent of “a digital far West” that would question the international order formed since 1945 and cited François Rabelais, the French Renaissance writer: “Science without conscience is the ruin of the Soul.”
Top officials are due to make speeches to close the AI summit on Tuesday morning at the Grand Palais, including Mr Vance.
French officials have sought to play down the prospect that the US will refuse to sign a summit declaration, which pledges to work toward “inclusive and sustainable AI”.
