France invests €655 million more in AI as it cuts ties with US firm Palantir ahead of VivaTech

A major investment push

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has unveiled an extra €655 million for artificial intelligence development under the France 2030 innovation programme. The announcement, made in a social media video on Tuesday, comes as Europe’s largest tech fair, VivaTech, prepares to open in Paris on Wednesday. Lecornu said the funds will support infrastructure, computing capacity, research, businesses, and industrial sectors.

“This revolution must benefit the French, protect our sovereignty, and strengthen our public services.”

Breaking free from US tech dependencies

In a separate move, Lecornu revealed that France’s domestic intelligence agency (DGSI) has ended its contract with Palantir, the US data analytics giant co‑founded by Donald Trump ally Peter Thiel. The DGSI has chosen French company ChapsVision instead. Lecornu framed the decision as essential to digital sovereignty.

“We cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital domain. We must build genuine autonomy so as not to depend on the goodwill of certain partners, capable of cutting off access.”

The contract break follows a Trump administration order last week forcing AI start‑up Anthropic to bar all foreign nationals from its two most powerful models, Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5, citing national security. The order drew sharp reactions from several declared and potential presidential candidates. Jordan Bardella, Jean‑Luc Mélenchon, Gabriel Attal, Edouard Philippe, and Bruno Retailleau all warned of an “AI war” and stressed the need for independence from the United States.

AI in public services

To embed AI across government, Lecornu declared that each ministry’s ability to use artificial intelligence will now be factored into budget negotiations. The goal is to cut costs without eroding public service quality.

“Each ministry will have to demonstrate how it uses artificial intelligence to simplify procedures, improve service to the French, and reduce unnecessary tasks – and thus save money without diminishing the quality of public service.”

Three concrete projects were announced: a sovereign conversational assistant shared by all public agents, a public health assistant on the Ameli health‑insurance platform by the end of the year, and a new platform to ease access to public data.

VivaTech opens amid sovereignty debate

The announcements land on the eve of the 10th edition of VivaTech. Running from Wednesday 17 June to Saturday 20 June in Paris, the event will focus squarely on AI, robotics, and digital sovereignty in the face of American and Chinese tech giants.