Priority Research Programme
and Equipments on Artificial Intelligence
Managed by
Financed by
Operated by
PEPR IA
Basic science to support the national AI strategy
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now central to our industrial competitiveness and to the performance of services essential to our society—not to mention the technology’s major implications for state sovereignty. And the global AI ecosystem is nothing if not complex. New tech giants have emerged around AI, and AI startups have risen to unprecedented heights. The constellation of stakeholders gravitating around these AI players is vast, spanning higher education and research and encompassing businesses of all types cutting all industries.
The French government recently introduced its France 2030 investment plan, which will fund a new phase in the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy through an instrument called the Priority Research Programme and Equipments on AI (PEPR IA). The goal is to guarantee France a long-term seat at the global AI table. This new program, which funds research from fundamental science to proofs of concept, aims to remove the scientific barriers to progress on the technological pillars of the national AI strategy, from the mathematical foundations of AI to embedded, frugal, distributed and trustworthy AI.
The scientific challenges inherent to AI cannot be addressed without also considering the societal challenges raised by the technology. The impacts of AI on the planet, on society, and on our technological sovereignty are vital concerns.
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Building a research ecosystem to tackle the challenges of AI
The idea behind the Priority Research Programmes and Equipments is to mobilize the national scientific community around specific challenges. The AI program will concentrate resources and focus efforts to support breakthroughs that will benefit all AI stakeholders in France and in Europe.
The French government has tasked three major research organizations, CEA, CNRS, and Inria, with orchestrating and managing the AI program, whose specific objectives are to make France a European and world-wide leader in both fields of embedded AI and trusted AI. The program also aims to make France an attractive destination for global AI talent and facilitate the transfer of AI technology to increase industrial innovation.
Key figures
projects funded
permanent researchers involved
PhD students trained
post-docs and engineers hired
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