France is emerging as a significant player in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, positioning itself as a potential AI superpower. The recent Viva Technology conference in Paris illustrated how France is quickly advancing in AI and the considerable funding that French AI companies are getting from investors like Amazon and Microsoft.
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One notable example is H, an AI firm formerly known as Holistic, which received $220 million in a seed funding round. Some of the major investors included Amazon and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Such investments in AI demonstrate increasing faith in France and its capabilities in the field. Earlier this month, Microsoft invested 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in France, making this its largest investment in the country so far.
Viva Technology Conference Showcases AI Innovations
The Viva Technology conference showcased AI innovations. The event included the ‘AI Avenue’ that comprised key players in the American market including Salesforce and AWS. Generative use cases were showcased throughout industries and in some emerging categories like beauty. L’Oreal, the French based beauty company, recently launched “BeautyGenius” an AI based beauty adviser which shows the extent of AI integration.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, in an interview with CNBC, stated:
“France is the leader in artificial intelligence in Europe. We want to have our own artificial intelligence being created and being developed in France.”
Meta and Google AI Labs Anchor France’s R&D Ecosystem
France is one of the leading countries in Europe in terms of AI research and development, with key facilities like Meta AI Research and Google AI Research in Paris.
“France stands as one of Europe’s most vibrant innovation hubs, and the nation nurtures a thriving startup scene, marked by significant strides in AI.”
Etienne Grass, managing director of Capgemini Invent in France
While France has been strong in the field of AI research and academics, it has struggled to turn this talent into viable businesses. However, this trend is shifting gradually as some researchers, as well as artificial intelligence engineers, begin to venture into new companies out of the like of labs such as Meta and Google.
Macron Rallies Tech Giants to Make Paris Global AI Hub
French President Emmanual Macron pointed out that France is leading Europe in the AI Industry while agreeing that Europe is still behind the U.S.
“It’s insane to have a world where the big giants just come from China and the U.S.”
Last week, Macron met with tech giants, including Erick Schmidt, LeCun of Meta, and Manyika of Google, to discuss plans to make Paris the global center of AI. According to Macron, the issue for Europe is how to speed up AI development while ensuring responsible regulation. As previously reported by Cryptopolitan, the EU recently passed the new AI Act to regulate it.
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The AI Act includes specific prohibitions on legally acceptable AI systems, as well as requirements for risk assessment and disclosure, and penalties for violation. France has been particularly vocal in its views regarding the EU AI Act, claiming that it could harm the progress of AI technologies.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Brenda Kanan