France, South Korea pledge €1bn for film amid AI risks

France and South Korea pledged 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) over five years to support independent filmmaking as French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned at a film summit that artificial intelligence should not replace human creativity.

Macron hosted the Lumiere summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence near Nice on Monday, with Lee as co-chair. The event gathered more than 200 guests from dozens of countries, including George Clooney and executives from US studios such as Sony Pictures and Disney.

A person familiar with the funding said half of the 1 billion euros would come from France's state investment bank Bpifrance and the rest from South Korea. Macron also announced a separate organisation with a 30 million euro budget to support independent cinema.

Macron said it would be a mistake if AI became a tool that replaced, or claimed to replace, creators. Lee said AI should develop in a more responsible and human-centred way, and that film and audiovisual work should be rooted in human creativity and emotions.

Netflix and TikTok executives attended. YouTube and Meta declined invitations, and leading generative AI companies were absent. Rights holders have accused generative AI companies of using film and audiovisual works to train their models without permission.

Organisers hope the summit will spur action for an industry weakened by falling cinema attendance and competition from streaming platforms. Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux said cinema was having one of its strongest years since Covid and that younger viewers were returning to cinemas.