The CEOs of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind sat down for a working lunch with the leaders of the world’s seven largest economies this week. Not as guests. Not as consultants. As peers.
The 52nd G7 Summit, held June 15-17 in Évian-les-Bains, France, featured Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Demis Hassabis engaging directly with heads of state on questions of AI deployment, international standards, and technology sovereignty.
Tech executives as quasi-sovereign actors
The June 17 working lunch wasn’t a side event or a panel discussion. It was a core part of the summit agenda, placing AI company leaders in the same room, at the same table, with the same conversational weight as the presidents and prime ministers who traditionally monopolize these gatherings.
The discussion themes were not small. Safe and rapid AI deployment, international regulatory standards, risks associated with advanced models, and the thorny question of technology sovereignty all made the agenda.
