France aims to become global AI leader with backing from U.S. Big Tech

PARIS — France is touting itself as the following synthetic intelligence superpower. [style note: Paris stands alone in datelines]

The Viva Know-how convention in Paris final week was buzzing with speak about how far France has come as a pacesetter in AI.

An excessive amount of chatter surrounded the French AI agency H, beforehand named Holistic, which raised a $220 million seed funding spherical [“raised $220 million in a seed funding round”? please could you also tweak the second bullet point in the key points] from buyers together with U.S. tech big Amazon and Google’s billionaire ex-CEO Eric Schmidt.

A standard theme for French AI corporations receiving massive sums of cash is that they are including U.S. tech heavyweights to their shareholder lists.

Earlier this month, France acquired a flood of recent personal investments, led by a dedication from Microsoft of 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion), its largest ever into France.

At Viva Tech, AI was in all places. Previous the big, vivid pink “VIVA” signal towards the entrance, there was a whole alley referred to as “AI Avenue,” which was surrounded by U.S. tech corporations equivalent to Salesforce and AWS.

Generative AI was on show in all places — even from corporations you would not anticipate.

For instance, French magnificence big L’Oreal confirmed off an AI-powered magnificence assistant referred to as “BeautyGenius” at a big sales space close to the middle of the Porte de Versailles convention venue.

The success of Viva Tech has grow to be symbolically essential for France as a part of its bid to grow to be a number one tech and AI hub that may rival the likes of the U.S. and China.

“France is the chief on synthetic intelligence in Europe,” Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, advised CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at Viva Tech final week.

He made clear that, whereas France has a serving to hand from U.S. tech giants, “we need to have our personal synthetic intelligence being created and being developed in France.”

Referring to Microsoft’s funding in France, Le Maire mentioned, “Microsoft is far welcome in our nation. However the problem for us is to have our personal units, our personal scientists … and we’re working very onerous for that.”

France boasts a powerful AI analysis and improvement ecosystem, dwelling to key services just like the Fb AI Analysis middle from Meta and Google’s AI analysis hub in Paris, in addition to main universities.

“France stands as considered one of Europe’s most vibrant innovation hubs,” Etienne Grass, the France managing director of Capgemini Invent, the digital innovation arm of Capgemini, advised CNBC. “The nation nurtures a thriving startup scene, marked by vital strides in AI,” Grass added.

Imran Ghory, accomplice at Blossom Capital, mentioned that whereas France has an excellent monitor document with regards to analysis and academia, it has struggled to funnel high quality expertise into “nice corporations.”

AI labs from Meta and Google have “created a coaching floor for college kids and researchers to study what main tech corporations look and work like from the within,” Ghory mentioned.

“We’re now seeing the fruits of this as many researchers and AI engineers start spinning out their very own corporations.”

French President Emmanuel Macron advised CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview final week that his nation is “main the tech trade in Europe.” Nonetheless, he famous Europe is “lagging behind” the U.S. and that the continent wants extra “huge gamers.”

“It is insane to have a world the place the massive giants simply come from China and the U.S,” Macron advised mentioned on the Elysee Palace. He praised Mistral, the French AI agency backed by U.S. tech big Microsoft, and H.

Final week, Macron met with Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist of Meta, and James Manyika, Google’s senior vice chairman of tech and society, amongst others, on the Elysee to debate methods to make Paris a worldwide AI hub.

Maurice Levy, CEO of promoting and public relations big Publicis Groupe, advised CNBC’s Karen Tso he thinks France has the potential to grow to be a high 5 nation for AI improvement. Levy mentioned France is “decided” to fill [narrow? since he seems to be OK with it being behind the US and China, based on the quote below] the hole between the U.S. and China and Europe with regards to AI.

France “will be a part of the 5 largest international locations on AI on the earth,” after the U.S., China, Israel, and the U.Okay., Levy mentioned in a TV interview final week. He referred to H’s mammoth funding spherical for instance of the momentum surrounding French AI proper now.

Levy mentioned roughly 40% of the tech demos at Viva Tech have been AI. AI is “one thing which is … not solely taking off, however has already taken off fairly massively,” he mentioned.

In a hearth dialogue final week, Google’s Manyika mentioned plenty of the innovation the agency has been bringing to the desk is sourced from engineers in France.

He mentioned that Google’s lately launched Gemma AI, a light-weight, open-source mannequin, was developed closely on the U.S. web big’s Paris AI hub.

In response to information from Dealroom, France claimed a roughly 20% share of total European AI startup funding in 2023, increased than the 15% common of European funding that goes into AI startups throughout the bloc.

France is not the European AI chief, although, based on Dealroom, with U.Okay. corporations elevating greater than double the quantity of each AI and GenAI funding than France.

France’s Macron mentioned the problem for Europe is accelerating AI analysis and improvement whereas additionally regulating at “acceptable scale.”

Final week, the EU accredited the AI Act, a landmark legislation regulating synthetic intelligence.

Some tech executives warned Europe might hamper its AI ambitions with regulation that’s too restrictive. France has been among the many international locations to have criticized the EU AI Act for being too restrictive with regards to innovation.

Pascal Brier, Capgemini’s chief innovation officer, mentioned whereas regulation is required to make sure AI is not left to grow to be too highly effective, it is essential to make sure new legal guidelines just like the AI Act do not by accident “kill” innovation.

He mentioned regulators ought to keep away from implementing the “precept of precaution” — the concept that AI makers ought to keep away from doing issues that may do hurt, as a rule.

“There is not any manner you possibly can cease AI — it is solely the tip of the start,” Brier advised CNBC. “It isn’t going to cease there.”