French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Sylvie Retailleau, is scheduled to meet with UK Secretary of State Michelle Donelan in London today for discussions marking a pivotal moment in bilateral scientific cooperation.

Building upon a rich history of collaboration that has yielded groundbreaking innovations such as the Concorde and the Channel Tunnel, the ministers will endorse a joint declaration aimed at deepening research ties between the two nations. This includes a commitment of £800,000 in new funding towards joint research efforts, particularly within the framework of Horizon Europe.

A landmark partnership between the UK’s AI Safety Institute and France’s Inria will also be unveiled, signifying a shared commitment to the responsible development of AI technology. This collaboration is timely, given France’s upcoming hosting of the AI Safety Summit later this year—which aims to build upon previous agreements and discussions on frontier AI testing achieved during the UK edition last year.

Furthermore, the establishment of the French-British joint committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation represents an opportunity to foster cooperation across a range of fields, including low-carbon hydrogen, space observation, AI, and research security.

UK Secretary of State Michelle Donelan said:

“The links between the UK and France’s brightest minds are deep and longstanding, from breakthroughs in aerospace to tackling climate change. It is only right that we support our innovators, to unleash the power of their ideas to create jobs and grow businesses in concert with our closest neighbour on the continent.

Research is fundamentally collaborative, and alongside our bespoke deal on Horizon Europe, this deepening partnership with France – along with our joint work on AI safety – is another key step in realising the UK’s science superpower ambitions.”

The collaboration between the UK and France underscores their shared commitment to advancing scientific research and innovation, with a focus on emerging technologies such as AI and quantum.

Sylvie Retailleau, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, commented:

“This joint committee is a perfect illustration of the international component of research – from identifying key priorities such as hydrogen, AI, space and research security – to enabling collaborative work and exchange of ideas and good practices through funding.

Doing so with a trusted partner as the UK – who just associated to Horizon Europe – is a great opportunity to strengthen France’s science capabilities abroad, and participate in Europe’s strategic autonomy openness.”

As the UK continues to deepen its engagement with global partners in the field of science and technology, these bilateral agreements serve as a testament to its ambition to lead the way in scientific discovery and innovation on the world stage.

(Photo by Aleks Marinkovic on Unsplash)

See also: UK Home Secretary sounds alarm over deepfakes ahead of elections

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

The post UK and France to collaborate on AI following Horizon membership appeared first on AI News.

Mistral AI stated that Mistral Large outscored most major LLMs except for OpenAI’s recently launched GPT-4 in tests of language understanding. It also performed strongly in maths and coding assessments.

Co-founder and Chief Scientist Guillaume Lample said Mistral Large represents a major advance over earlier Mistral models. The company also launched a chatbot interface named Le Chat to allow users to interact with the system, similar to ChatGPT.  

The proprietary model boasts fluency in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian, with a vocabulary exceeding 20,000 words. While Mistral’s first model was open-source, Mistral Large’s code remains closed like systems from OpenAI and other firms.  

Mistral AI received nearly $500 million in funding late last year from backers such as Nvidia and Andreessen Horowitz. It also recently partnered with Microsoft to provide access to Mistral Large through Azure cloud services.  

Microsoft’s investment of €15 million into Mistral AI is set to face scrutiny from European Union regulators who are already analysing the tech giant’s ties to OpenAI, maker of market-leading models like GPT-3 and GPT-4. The European Commission said Tuesday it will review Microsoft’s deal with Mistral, which could lead to a formal probe jeopardising the partnership.

Microsoft has focused most of its AI efforts on OpenAI, having invested around $13 billion into the California company. Those links are now also under review in both the EU and UK for potential anti-competitive concerns. 

Pricing for the Mistral Large model starts at $8 per million tokens of input and $24 per million output tokens. The system will leverage Azure’s computing infrastructure for training and deployment needs as Mistral AI and Microsoft partner on AI research as well.

While third-party rankings have yet to fully assess Mistral Large, the firm’s earlier Mistral Medium ranked 6th out of over 60 language models. With the latest release, Mistral AI appears positioned to challenge dominant players in the increasingly crowded AI space.

(Photo by Joshua Golde on Unsplash)

See also: Stability AI previews Stable Diffusion 3 text-to-image model

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

The post Mistral AI unveils LLM rivalling major players appeared first on AI News.

IT firm Capgemini worked with Google to create the AI which analyses aerial photos taken by France’s National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information, identifies pools, and then cross-references them with national tax and property registries.

So far, the project has spotted 20,356 undeclared swimming pools. The government has used the data to collect almost €10 million in additional taxes.

Despite the project’s success, it’s only been used for nine out of France’s 96 metro areas. If a similar number of undeclared swimming pools are found across France’s other metro areas, a further 196,774 could be uncovered – potentially raising a further €96.6 million.

In 2020, France was estimated to have around 3.2 million private swimming pools. That number is said to have grown due to COVID-19 lockdowns and soaring temperatures.

A hot summer and lack of rainfall have led to droughts being declared across many parts of Europe. In France, the river Loire has reached a record low water level to the point where people can practically walk from one side to the other.

Amid such droughts, private pool ownership has come under fire. An MP for Europe Écologie les Verts, a French green party, recently made headlines for refusing to rule out a ban on the construction of new private pools.

An early version of the pool-spotting AI reportedly had a high error of 30 percent and logged other architectural features such as solar panels as swimming pools. Those issues have since been ironed out.

France’s tax office, the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques (DGFiP), now plans to roll out the AI across the remaining metro areas and even expand it to spot other undeclared private improvements like extensions.

“We are particularly targeting house extensions like verandas, but we have to be sure that the software can find buildings with a large footprint and not the dog kennel or the children’s playhouse,” Antoine Magnant, Deputy Director General of Public Finances, told Le Parisien.

(Photo by john labelette on Unsplash)

Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London.

Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here.

The post AI discovers over 20K taxable French swimming pools appeared first on AI News.

Speaking to industry leaders around the world, many recognise the UK as a leader in AI research and talent from its class-leading universities. Since 2014, an AI startup has launched every five days on average in the UK.

This strength has resulted in significant interest from global technology giants – including Google’s £400 million acquisition of DeepMind, and Facebook’s acquisition of Bloomsbury AI just earlier this week.

Digital Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“The UK is a digital dynamo, increasingly recognised across the world as a place where ingenuity and innovation can flourish. We are home to four in ten of Europe’s tech businesses worth more than $1 billion and London is the AI capital of Europe.

France is also doing great work in this area, and these new partnerships show the strength and depth of our respective tech industries and are the first stage in us developing a closer working relationship. This will help us better serve our citizens and provide a boost for our digital economies.”

France and the UK are looking to forge closer links between leading AI companies in each of the nations.

Speaking alongside his French counterpart, Mounir Mahjoubi, Mr Hancock will confirm the UK’s world-leading centre for AI and data – The Alan Turing Institute – is signing an agreement with the French Institute – DATAIA – to promote collaboration between the French and British sectors.

Alan Wilson, CEO of The Alan Turing Institute, said:

“The fundamental goal behind all our research is to build a data and AI enriched world for the benefit of all. In order to do this, it is critical to forge international collaborations and share our knowledge, expertise and ideas with other research centres around the world.

The Institute and DATAIA both share a vision for building research in data science and AI which crosses disciplinary boundaries and recognises the societal implications of data and algorithms. It is a pleasure to kickstart this engagement and we look forward to working with them to advance UK and French excellence in this area.”

Another area where the UK is seen as leading in AI is discussions surrounding its ethical development. The Alan Turing Institute and DATAIA will also collaborate in this area to promote fairness and transparency in the design and implementation of algorithms.

Researchers from each institute will spend time at each other’s facilities and host joint workshops.

Mr Hancock and Mr Majoubi will also sign an accord on digital government. This will commit to extending their cooperation in the digital sector – on innovation, artificial intelligence, data and digital administration.

Finally, Mr Hancock will confirm the expansion of London-based Entrepreneur First (EF) to Paris. EF aims to further help founders build leading new companies and promote ties between the nations.

The announcements are made amid the backdrop of Brexit, so it’s good to see both nations continuing to forge alliances for shared future success and prosperity.

What are your thoughts on the AI collaboration measures? Let us know in the comments.

 Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located AI & Big Data Expo events with upcoming shows in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more. Co-located with the  IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo so you can explore the future of enterprise technology in one place.

The post UK and France announce measures to strengthen AI ties appeared first on AI News.

The new facility will house more than 100 researchers and joins an expansion announcement from Fujitsu who are set to grow their own presence in the country.

“Great progress on artificial intelligence is happening in France,” President Macron said in a Twitter message. “Samsung chooses France to locate its new research center on artificial intelligence, creating more than 100 jobs. Thank you Young Sohn for taking the leap.”

Samsung and Fujitsu’s announcements have been made ahead of the launch of the French government’s AI initiative. Macron says France was behind in most recent technological advancements but the initiative will help to ensure his country leads in artificial intelligence.

“We missed all the big technological revolutions of recent years, but France has a card to play in the field of artificial intelligence,” said an aide to the president to POLITICO. “Either we seize the chance now, or we watch another wave pass us by.”

Macron’s advisors conceded that France is starting from a difficult position, especially in comparison to China and the United States.

Earlier this month, AI News reported that Macron wants Europeans to relax about the use of their data by AI companies. The comments were made following Macron’s trip to Beijing where he saw the depth and scope of data Chinese researchers have access to in comparison to their European counterparts — making things such as training machine learning models easier.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is often the most cited example of being a particular concern to companies and researchers which rely on the bulk collection of data for their work.

“Very often we hear ‘Where are the British and European Googles and Facebooks?’ Well, it’s because of barriers like this which stop organisations like that being possible to grow and develop,” said Peter Wright, Solicitor and Managing Director of Digital Law UK, in a piece for our sister publication IoT News.

However, with the current outrage over the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, it may be hard to sell the need for more data access to citizens.

Samsung’s new facility is to be based either in Paris or in Saclay.

What are your thoughts on France’s new AI initiative? Let us know in the comments.

 Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located AI & Big Data Expo events with upcoming shows in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more. Co-located with the  IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo so you can explore the future of enterprise technology in one place.

The post Samsung plans to open a huge AI research facility in France appeared first on AI News.

Citizens are increasingly concerned about their use of data, especially following the ongoing investigations into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. AI companies, however, rely on the bulk collection of data for training machine learning models.

Macron wants to ensure France is a leader in AI but says his efforts are being held back by European attitudes to privacy.

The president’s comments are in contrast to EU’s current and upcoming policies which companies are concerned will reduce their abilities when compared to the competition in less restrictive countries.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is often the most cited example of being a particular concern to companies and researchers which rely on the bulk collection of data for their work.

In a piece for our sister publication IoT News, I spoke to Peter Wright, Solicitor and Managing Director of Digital Law UK, who highlighted these very concerns.

“It’s a particular problem when you’re looking at the US, where in places like California they are not under these same pressures,” said Wright. “You’ve got your Silicon Valley startup that can access large amounts of money from investors, access specialist knowledge in the field, and will not be fighting with one arm tied behind its back like a competitor in Europe.”

“Very often we hear ‘Where are the British and European Googles and Facebooks?’ Well, it’s because of barriers like this which stop organisations like that being possible to grow and develop.”

Speaking in Beijing, Macron said the European Union needs to ‘move fast’’ to create ‘a single market that our big data actors can access.’ He said the EU must decide what model it wants to exploit data. His comments were made after witnessing the depth and scope of Chinese data collection.

This may be an uphill proposal for Europeans. In France, 70 percent of people are concerned about personal data collected when they use Internet search engines, according to a December survey.

Do you think Europeans should relax about their data privacy? Let us know in the comments.

 Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their use-cases? Attend the co-located AI & Big Data Expo events with upcoming shows in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more. Co-located with the  IoT Tech Expo, Blockchain Expo and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo so you can explore the future of enterprise technology in one place.

The post Macron wants Europeans to relax about data or be left behind in AI appeared first on AI News.