Thousands of tech enthusiasts are gathering at Europe's biggest event for startups, VivaTech in Paris, which this year will be dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The four-day event, now in its eighth year, will welcome more than 150,000 guests, 11,000 startups and 450 speakers, organisers say.
Former U.S. climate envoy and Secretary of State John Kerry to deliver keynote address on green technology revolution. Billionaire and Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk will appear via video link to answer audience questions.
Francois Beethoven, VivaTech's director general, told AFP that this year's event will focus on the "hard stuff".
"We want to stop the theoretical discussions about AI and tackle concrete innovations," he said.
Multiple startups will show how AI can be used in every field from medical prosthetics to fighting misinformation.
They will be joined by established players such as ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which will showcase its latest developer tools.
"Tsunami of Artificial Intelligence"
In the face of this "AI tsunami," companies must be careful not to overwhelm their potential customers, CCS Insight's Ben Wood pointed out.
"There's a lot of exciting things going on with AI, but it needs to be very clearly articulated what the benefits are for consumers. We're approaching AI fatigue where people are just tuning out," he added.
The event regularly attracts important political figures. Key EU figures Thierry Breton and Charles Michel are expected to attend.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who regularly attends the event, is unlikely to take part this year. He is busy visiting the troubled French territory of New Caledonia, which is more than 15,000 km from Paris. /BGNES
