President Macron announced on Wednesday additional funding of more than 500 million euros to develop artificial intelligence in France and bring out world-class champions and poles. “We need to bring out five to ten clusters, to the tune of 500 million euros, to have two or three centers of excellence” at the global level and “create champions”, he declared, at the VivaTech show, Europe’s largest tech fair, which opened its doors on Wednesday. The Head of State also took advantage of this show dedicated to entrepreneurs to denounce “those who hate those who make money”.
“Hating people who make money doesn’t work,” he quipped. “I am for the success of those who invest in the economy. We must not restrain our entrepreneurs when they are ready to reinvest, “he said, in front of an audience of entrepreneurs. He was pleased to have created since 2017 “a potential for business angels”, private investors.
He also announced an investment of 50 million in the Jean-Zay supercomputer and confirmed the creation of an Exascale supercomputer in France for 500 million, half of which will be financed by the EU. Emmanuel Macron has called for European AI regulation that does not curb innovation. “The worst case scenario would be a Europe that invests much less than the Americans and the Chinese and that would start by creating regulation. This scenario is possible, it would not be the one I would support,” he warned, as the future “AI Act” was negotiated in Brussels.
The Head of State also wanted the development of generative AI and large models in “Open Source” (open code). For this, he wishes to encourage databases in French. A seed fund of 50 million is planned in the sector.
Public calls for projects worth 150 million will also be launched for cultural projects on digital and metaverse practices. To mobilize more funds for innovative companies, the “Tibi 2” fund which brings together institutional investors has been secured to date up to 7 billion euros, he said, with a target of 10 billion. Finally, 125 innovative companies were honored to receive funding from the France 2030 plan.
Emmanuel Macron also announced that he will meet with Twitter and Tesla boss Elon Musk on Friday to “talk about cars” as the French government wants to convince the American billionaire to set up a factory in France. “We’re going to talk about artificial intelligence where he’s involved, social media, regulatory frameworks,” the French president said. “I will also talk to him about cars, batteries, this sector, to praise the attractiveness of France and Europe,” he added.