The 2025 Summit of the International Alliance of U7+ University Presidents focused on the “role of universities in the development of artificial intelligence”. Invited to participate in the opening session as a Panelist, Laura Chaubard, president and director general of the École Polytechnique, was one of the 37 university leaders who participated in this seventh edition of the U7+presidential summit. This summit, which took place at the University of Ottawa from April 22 to 23, 2025, brought together participants from 42 universities from 16 countries. While Canada is preparing to welcome the G7 summit in June 2025, the U7+ summit was concluded with the official statement of a press release to the Canadian government. U7+ member universities highlight the important role of higher education institutions in the development of a responsible AI.
The mission of defining and Implement concrete collective actions to meet global challenges, in coordination with heads of government in G7 countries And beyond, is at the heart of the international coalition of U7+University Presidents. It is with this in mind that the U7+ alliance chooses a major topical theme each year.
This year, ” The role of universities in the development of AI » (The Role of Universities in Advancing AI) was the subject on which the leaders and working groups have focused their attention in recent months and the theme of the U7+ 2025 Presidents summit held from April 22 to 23, 2025.
Organized upstream of the G7 summit scheduled for June 2025 in Canada, the U7+ Presidents Summit brought together presidents and leaders of the universities member of the Alliance this year in Canada also, at the University of Ottawa, a member institution of U7+. Laura Chaubard, President and Managing Director of the École Polytechnique, took part in the top alongside thirty-six presidents of international universities members of the Alliancefrom Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Africa. In total, the summit brought together representatives of 42 universities from 16 countries.
Testifying to the important scientific contribution of the École Polytechnique to the development of AI, Laura Chaubard was invited to speak during the opening session of the U7+ 2025 summit alongside Santa Ono, president of the University of Michigan. Chaired by Daniel Jutras, rector of the University of Montreal, the session highlighted that higher education establishments represent key actors to react to the upheavals induced by the development of AI and this in multiple respects. Their field of action includes the development of AI applications, the training of students in new challenges as well as that of professionals who must appropriate new skills related to technological innovations, or the advice and support for innovation in the economic sector. However, the panelists have also taken into account the responsibility of universities to contribute to the understanding and risk management that AI has.
As an independent actor guided by research, education and the general interest, higher education establishments can and must help build more equitable and more robust AI ecosystems and help governments guide transformations that the advent and rapid evolution of AI technologies cause.
After their in -depth discussions, presidents of 40 universities member of the U7+Alliance, including the Polytechnic, adopted concrete commitments, reaffirming their concern to shape responsible and inclusive governance of AI. They have notably committed to developing innovation in the field of artificial intelligence by taking into account the risks associated with it and by providing their expertise in order to mitigate the risks to the company.
True to its commitment to collaborate with the leaders of the G7, the U7+ Alliance has issued recommendations for G7 and other governments. These recommendations were submitted to the Canadian government at the end of the summit by Jacques Fremont, president of the University of Ottawa and Meric Gerrtler, president of the University of Toronto and the current president of the U7+alliance.
In accordance with the commitment of the École Polytechnique for the general interestthe commitments made by the University Presidents of the U7+ Alliance for an advance responsible for the AI also reflect reflections expressed at an international scientific conference which took place at the X at the start. Organized upstream of the “AI Action Summit” summoned by the French authorities in Paris, this international scientific conference focused on the impact of development of artificial intelligence on science and society.
