Make France an AI powerhouse

A strong political vision for the development of Artifitial Intelligence in France

This report presents a comprehensive overview of France’s current position, achievements, and ambitions in the field of artificial intelligence. Prepared for the AI for Industry Summit held on February 10–11, 2025, it serves as a promotional and informational document to highlight France’s attractiveness as a global hub for AI innovation, infrastructure, and investment.

France positions itself as a leading force in AI, building on the momentum of its 2018 national AI strategy. The report showcases the country’s rapid progress, emphasising its growing number of AI startups, internationally recognised research centres, and competitive AI talent pool. France ranks among the top countries globally for AI research output, startup fundraising, and generative AI development, with companies such as Mistral AI, Hugging Face, and Dataiku gaining international prominence.

A central theme of the document is France’s strength in infrastructure. The report highlights its decarbonised and stable energy supply, dense fibre-optic network, and strategic geographic position, making it an ideal location for data centres and AI computing facilities. France has already identified 35 sites for future AI-related infrastructure projects and has streamlined administrative procedures to accelerate development. Major supercomputing projects, including Jean Zay, Adastra, and Alice Recoque, reinforce the country’s leadership in high-performance computing.

Significant investments from global technology companies further strengthen France’s AI ecosystem. Major announcements include large-scale projects by Amazon, Apollo, Brookfield, Digital Realty, Iliad, Equinix, evroc, Fluidstack, and others, collectively involving billions of euros and gigawatts of AI computing capacity. These initiatives are expected to generate thousands of jobs and deepen France’s integration into the global AI economy.

The report also highlights France’s focus on fostering public engagement and trust in AI through initiatives like the ‘AI Cafés’ and the establishment of INESIA, the first European institute dedicated to AI evaluation and security. It further details collaborations between AI developers and industry leaders in sectors such as defence, transportation, energy, and media, illustrating the widespread integration of AI technologies across the French economy.