France 2030: First 23 Laureates of the 'AI Pioneers' Program Unveiled

France is accelerating its artificial intelligence strategy. On February 10, 2026, the government unveiled the first 23 laureates of the "AI Pioneers" program, a France 2030 initiative backed by 10 million euros in public funding. That same evening, President Emmanuel Macron gathered about thirty entrepreneurs and digital industry leaders at the Elysee Palace to review the national AI roadmap.

A Program Serving Technological Sovereignty

The "AI Pioneers" program, operated by Bpifrance and the NALU agency (supported by Inria) on behalf of the French state, aims to identify and support R&D projects with high potential for breakthrough technological innovation. The stated objective: make France a frontrunner in AI innovation and contribute to national sovereignty in this strategic domain.

Selected projects are supported through three distinct phases:

• Phase 1: Technical feasibility of the targeted breakthrough innovation
• Phase 2: Performance improvement and creation of a demonstrator
• Phase 3: Development of a minimum viable product for a specific use case

The 23 Laureates Across Six Key Sectors

The selected projects cover strategic sectors for the French economy:

Health and Biomedical (10 projects) — The most represented sector, with initiatives such as AIDE2, BRINK AI, ESYNAPSE, IMMUNEMIND, and MOPTIMUS, which explore AI for medical diagnostics, computational immunology, and therapeutic optimization.

Industrial Robotics (3 projects) — BLEUROBOTICS, DEFORM AI, and ORCHESTRO are developing intelligent automation solutions for the factories of the future.

Industrial Design (2 projects) — BATMANE and IO NN X QUBIT apply AI to computer-aided design and quantum computing.

Security (2 projects) — NOESIS and RHIZOME LABS are working on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection.

Ecological Transition (2 projects) — GAIIA and SENTI GWAS 2 harness AI for environmental sustainability.

Other Sectors (4 projects) — ATTND AI, ECOSENTINEL, P2IA, and XPPROCESS round out this first cohort with diverse applications.

An Elysee Dinner to Take Stock

On the same day, Emmanuel Macron invited about thirty figures from the French tech ecosystem to a dinner at the Elysee Palace. This meeting comes exactly one year after the Summit for Action on Artificial Intelligence, which resulted in the announcement of 109 billion euros in investment commitments.

Among the guests were entrepreneurs such as Christian Allouche (Gleamer), Thomas Clozel (Owkin), Alexandre Lebrun (Nabla), Jean-Charles Samuelian (Alan), and Frederic Mazzella (BlaBlaCar), as well as leaders of major corporations including Patrice Caine (Thales), Christel Heydemann (Orange), and Catherine MacGregor (Engie). Minister of Digital Affairs Anne Le Henanff and economist Philippe Aghion were also present.

Notable absence: Arthur Mensch, co-founder of Mistral AI, and Yann LeCun, who was speaking the same day at Station F's AI Day, were not in attendance.

France, Europe's Leading AI Ecosystem

These announcements are part of a positive momentum for the French ecosystem. France now has more than 1,000 startups specializing in AI, making it the largest AI ecosystem in Europe. In 2025, French AI startups raised 2.6 billion euros, driven notably by Mistral AI's record 1.7 billion euro raise in September.

To unite this growing ecosystem, a new dedicated space called "Cortex House" has been launched, offering a meeting and collaboration hub for French AI stakeholders.

What's Next?

The "AI Pioneers" call for projects remains open with the next submission deadline on March 10, 2026 and a final closing date of June 9, 2026. Innovative AI project leaders can still apply through Bpifrance.

Next week, France will participate in an international AI summit scheduled in India, where the advances of the France 2030 program will be showcased on the global stage.

Sources: Direction Generale des Entreprises, Maddyness