Plan

1. Introduction
2. Deciphering Digital Sovereignty: An Issue of Technological Freedom
3. The Keys to Success: Why Opt for a Sovereign Stack?
4. Dive into the Heart of Innovation: The French Tech Stack Revolution
5. Conclusion: Strengthening the Generative AI Ecosystem in France

Introduction

At the intersection of innovation and creativity, generative AI shines for its ability to create new and original content from scratch, whether it's text, images, music, and more. It is based on advanced algorithms, trained to understand and generate data that seems to have been designed by man, opening the field to an infinity of applications, in many fields. France is at the heart of this revolution. It stands out for the quality of its engineers and by developing a true autonomous and sovereign ecosystem. This approach testifies to the vital importance of autonomy in the artificial intelligence sector. By capitalizing on French resources and talents, the country aims to forge a solid and secure AI offer, ready to measure itself internationally while adhering to European standards and regulations. This article aims to shed light on the fundamental elements of this 100% French infrastructure, of the creation of Foundations Models with Mistral AI, from their specialization on Craft AI's LLmops platform to their execution on the Scaleway sovereign cloud. We will examine the benefits of such a sovereign strategy, while addressing the challenges to be overcome and the future perspectives for generative AI in France.

Deciphering Digital Sovereignty: An Issue of Technological Freedom

Technological sovereignty, particularly in the field of generative artificial intelligence, is fundamental for the strategic independence and security of a nation or a regional block such as the European Union. It concerns the ability to develop, control and maintain one's own infrastructures and information technologies, without depending on external entities. This includes control over data, which is essential for powering AI systems, ensuring their security and compliance with local regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe. AI sovereignty also means promoting a robust local industry, capable of generating innovation and employment, while ensuring international competitiveness. It aims to reduce dependence on major foreign technology platforms, by developing solutions and clean technologies that meet the specific linguistic, cultural and legal requirements of the region. This objective requires close collaboration between the public and private sectors, academic research and entrepreneurial initiatives, to create a dynamic and innovative AI ecosystem. Such an approach ensures that AI developments respect ethical values, contribute positively to society, and protect national and European interests. Sovereignty in generative AI is therefore a major challenge for technological autonomy, data protection, and the alignment of technological advances with French values and standards. It is essential for navigating today's globalized digital landscape, ensuring that the benefits of AI benefit everyone, while securing critical infrastructure and sensitive data from foreign influences and controls.

The Keys to Success: Why Opt for a Sovereign Stack?

To develop a sovereign generative AI technical stack in France, you must start by developing digital sovereignty. This means increased data control, in strict compliance with regulations such as the GDPR. This digital sovereignty makes it possible to reduce dependence on foreign technologies, which is vital for national security and autonomy in strategic areas. Companies such as Mistral AI, Scaleway and Craft AI are investing in the development of a sovereign French AI offer. These sovereign solutions stimulate innovation and technological development, adapting services to the specific needs and regulatory, linguistic and cultural challenges of France. For example, Mistral AI develops LLMs specific to the French context, while Scaleway offers sovereign cloud services that guarantee data security and compliance. Craft AI, for its part, specializes, deploys and manages models on private infrastructures. These collective efforts not only offer economic advantages through reinvestment in the French economic fabric but also protection against industrial and financial interference by foreign companies. The agility and ability to respond quickly to security threats, as well as the close alignment with European regulations, position French companies in a unique way on the market, while protecting innovations and private and national strategic interests.

Dive into the Heart of Innovation: The French Tech Stack Revolution

After laying the foundations for the growing importance of generative AI in the current technological landscape and underlining the French initiative to develop a sovereign technical stack, let's now dive into the heart of it. One of the essential pillars of this stack is the LLM, which must be open and, as much as possible, trained on French data to better understand the specific context of our society.

Mistral AI LLM

Mistral AI, the latest addition to French artificial intelligence, was co-founded by a trio of talents from the most prestigious French institutions. Arthur Mensch, Guillaume Lample, and Timothée Lacroix, all marked by exceptional careers, launched this gem that became a global reference in a few months. These founders, with roots deeply rooted in French science education, chose to return to France after having acquired solid experience with American tech giants. Their objective was to contribute to the advancement of open and ethical AI, as close as possible to skill pools and to the forefront of regulation. This ambition is reflected in their commitment to create generative AI models that stand out for their openness and adaptability, thus responding to a growing need for transparency and personalization in the use of AI.

The Scaleway sovereign cloud

‍Scaleway stands out as a European sovereign cloud provider, with an emphasis on building, training, and deploying at scale AI models and intelligent applications in a resilient and sustainable cloud ecosystem. Scaleway is positioned as a French and European alternative to hyperscalers, ensuring the sovereignty of its customers' data with a redundant infrastructure and certified data centers. Xavier Niel, the founder of Iliad, the group that owns Scaleway, has demonstrated his commitment to the advancement of generative AI by investing heavily in the computing power needed for these technologies. With an investment of 200 million euros, this initiative aims to strengthen Scaleway's capabilities for generative AI. This strategic step also shows X. Niel's commitment to supporting the French technological ecosystem in the competitive field of artificial intelligence.

Specializing and deploying models with Craft AI

‍Craft AI is a French startup that allows companies to build their own experience around generative AI. Through its LLMOPS platform (Large Language Model Operations), Craft AI offers a turnkey trusted AI solution, allowing you to specialize and deploy your own generative AIs. Without the need to send your data to foreign third parties, Craft AI allows you to maintain control of your infrastructures (FinOps) and your data (Privacy). By making fine-tuning and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques accessible, Craft AI allows its users to precisely adapt LLMs to their specific needs. This approach significantly improves the performance and applicability of models, guaranteeing increased precision and rapid and efficient production. The fine-tuning process, essential for creating secure private generative AIs, allows, in a defined context, improved performance compared to open-source models. At the same time, the use of the RAG enriches the model's responses with relevant data, thus increasing its reliability and relevance and making it possible to justify its sources. Craft AI perfectly illustrates the convergence between technological innovation and security requirements, making its platform indispensable for any sovereign technical stack seeking to integrate secure and compliant generative AI solutions.

Conclusion: Strengthening the Generative AI Ecosystem in France

The advent of generative AI marks a technological revolution, with France in the crosshairs for its autonomy and innovation. Our country is distinguished by the development of a 100% French AI infrastructure, illustrating the commitment to technological independence and the valorization of French talent. This initiative highlights the importance of sovereignty in AI, ensuring security, compliance and competitiveness on the international scene.

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