Key facts
- Le Hénanff said the US is not prepared to issue a joint statement with the other six G7 nations.
- The White House official said the French proposal was a poorly defined body that would create unnecessary bureaucracy.
- The official pointed to Trump's Super Intelligence Force as the US vehicle for government-industry AI cooperation.
- France issued a chair's summary after the October 20 virtual ministerial, not a joint statement endorsed by all members.
- Le Hénanff proposed resuming talks in December and cited INESIA and Inria as French resources for the work.
The US government declined to back a French push for the G7 to coordinate on advanced AI safety, with a White House official calling the proposal "unnecessary bureaucracy." France's digital minister, Anne Le Hénanff, told a French Senate hearing on November 4, 2026 that she held two ministerial meetings in September and October to secure G7 commitments to a high-level working group to test frontier AI, the most advanced models, and share information about risks and incidents.
That effort "did not reach a successful conclusion" because the US wanted to pursue its own approach, Le Hénanff said. "They are not prepared, at this stage, to issue a joint statement with the other six G7 nations, and have asked us to wait for the findings of their own assessment," she said, adding: "Naturally, we regret this, but we are continuing to move forward as Europeans on this issue."
A White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the French government proposed a "poorly defined body" to cooperate on AI that the administration feared would "create unnecessary bureaucracy." The official pointed to US President Donald Trump's Super Intelligence Force, saying it brings government and industry together to accelerate innovation and ensure the safe deployment of models.
France, which holds the rotating G7 presidency for 2026, issued a chair's summary statement after the October 20 virtual G7 tech ministerial. It noted that ministers considered closer coordination on identifying risks and sharing incident information, as well as a dedicated high-level group. It was not a joint statement endorsed by all G7 members. Le Hénanff has proposed resuming talks in December.
Trump began promoting "super intelligence" as a replacement for "artificial intelligence" at the UN General Assembly in late September, and a week later ordered federal agencies to use the new term. G7 ministers agreed in May to discuss secure AI and risk assessment, followed by the G7 leaders meeting in Évian-les-Bains in June. The White House official said: "Under President Trump's leadership, America will continue to lead the world in SI innovation."