In geopolitical terms, Emmanuel Macron’s appearance at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi was a counteroffensive. The Trump administration had been on the offensive, using international platforms to attack European AI regulation and advocate for a deregulatory approach that serves American commercial interests. Macron came to Delhi to fight back — not defensively but aggressively, taking the argument to a global audience on terms that favour his position.
His tactical choice was effective: lead with child safety, where the evidence is overwhelming and the moral authority is unassailable. Research by Unicef and Interpol had just documented 1.2 million child victims of AI deepfakes in a single year. One in 25 children in some nations. By leading with this evidence, Macron placed the debate on terrain where his opponents — advocates of deregulation and commercial freedom — are weakest. It is very difficult to argue for less regulation of technology that is being used to produce sexually explicit imagery of children.
Having established his moral ground, Macron expanded the argument. Europe’s AI Act is not anti-innovation but pro-accountability. Safe regulatory environments attract investment and trust. The absence of regulation does not produce freedom — it produces documented harm, paid for by those least able to protect themselves. His rebuttal of the Trump administration’s critique was comprehensive and confident, delivered to an international audience that included many governments sympathetic to the European position.
The counteroffensive also involved coalition-building. António Guterres’ alignment with Macron on inclusive global AI governance gave the European position multilateral authority. Narendra Modi’s support on child safety and open-source technology gave it global demographic weight. Sam Altman’s endorsement of international oversight gave it a degree of industry legitimacy. Together, these alignments transformed what might have been a defensive European position into a credible global coalition.
Macron left Delhi having prosecuted his counteroffensive successfully. The argument for European-style AI governance is in better shape internationally than it was before the summit. The coalition for meaningful child safety standards is broader and more visible. The moral authority of the child safety argument has been reasserted against the commercial authority of the deregulatory position. Whether this translates into policy change depends on France’s G7 presidency and what follows. But the counteroffensive, at least, has been launched.