Conference Presentation, Keynote
Opening Address by Anne Le Hénanff, French Minister-Delegate for AI | RAISE Summit 2026
- France positions itself as a global hub for responsible, sovereign, and human-centered AI with a national strategy active since 2018, supported by over 3 billion euros in cumulative investment, including a recent 655 million euro announcement by Prime Minister Sébastien Le Cornu.
- The government targets accelerating AI adoption among SMEs as a G7 priority and plans to deploy 600 AI ambassadors through the Auxilia network to demystify technology and optimize operations across France and its overseas territories.
- Infrastructure development includes identifying 63 locations for data centers, comprising six fast-track sites, to support AI training and inference capabilities, while the new Accelera Vagia platform aims to co-finance diagnoses and accelerators to showcase real-world success stories.
- Major capital influx is anticipated from Softbank's announced investment of up to 75 billion euros in the AI value chain, alongside initiatives like French Tech Next 40 120 and Choose France to attract top global talent and capital.
- Key domestic players including Mistral AI, H-Company, Amilab, and Equimetrix are expected to lead innovation within an ecosystem featuring over 2,000 AI start-ups and 50,000 sector jobs, with programs like France Legal Tech and Pionier de l'IA driving breakthroughs in legal tech, robotics, healthcare, and cybersecurity.
- The regulatory framework is projected to provide businesses with long-term clarity and certainty, complementing efforts to ensure European digital sovereignty by reducing dependencies while maintaining openness to foreign companies that generate value in Europe.
- Upcoming initiatives such as regional AI summits and a catalyst summit aim to foster collaboration and shared progress, with the overarching goal of shaping a future where AI is purposeful, serves humanity, drives prosperity, and respects human values.