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Artificial intelligence is booming in France, with the emergence of revolutionary new support programs. These initiatives promise to transform the technology landscape and drive innovation in machine learning.
AI in France: A Strengthened Strategic Commitment
Ahead of the Viva Technology show held in Paris at the end of May, French President Emmanuel Macron brought together the talents ofartificial intelligence (AI) at the Élysée Palace to reaffirm France’s strategic priority in this area. Funding of 2.5 billion euros is part of the France 2030 plan, and actions as well as new winners were announced.
The VivaTech 2024 show, which presents itself as “the number one event in Europe for startups and technology”, was a spectacular success. According to the dedicated site, VivaTech 2024 attracted more than 165,000 visitors And 13,500 startups, establishing business relationships in more than 25 areas and contacting more than 2000 investors.
A Structured National Strategy
According to the French government information site, theAI became a national strategic target in 2018, thanks to a favorable context. The France 2030 plan allocated nearly 2.5 billion euros to this, in two phases:
- Phase 1: Structuring the existing national ecosystem to make France the “leading ecosystem for AI in Europe”. Today, the country has a “globally recognized ecosystem in research and technology”.
- Phase 2: Launch in 2022 to broadcast theAI in the economy in order to improve industrial competitiveness and individual and collective well-being. 560 million euros are dedicated to the consolidation of institutions of excellence in AI in France.
Concrete and Tangible Results
The Élysée website underlines that this strategy has “beared fruit”. A network of interdisciplinary AI institutes has been developed, chairs of excellence have been supported, doctoral programs funded, and investments have been made in the computing capacity of public research.
New AI Support Programs
To go even further, President Macron presented new directions to make France a power in AI, by attracting the greatest talents and encouraging the collective adoption of secure and ethical AI. This translates concretely into:
- Announcement of nine winners for centers of excellence in research and training in AI, located in the main French universities and supported by up to 360 million euros.
- Implementation of new support programs states in AI. This includes a call for projects to « boost the use of generative AI in the economy », an evaluation program for advanced AIs, a European center of expertise in generative AI, and projects to improve the offer of cloud services and the transition in the cultural sectors to “support the rapid adaptation of cultural and media actors to AI technologies”.
Vitality Indicators in AI in France
Some key figures provided by the Ministry of Research and the presidency website illustrate the vitality of AI in France :
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- 80 research laboratories involved in AI.
- More than 600 startups specializing in AI, with an increase of 24% between 2021 and 2023.
- 76 startups dedicated to generative AI (sound, text, video, image).
- 13,500 jobs created in the sector.
- 3.2 billion euros raised in 2022 by AI companies.
These indicators show that France has become the leading country in Europe for foreign investment projects in AI and the leading host country for AI research and decision-making centers of world leaders.
