AI: €70 million for the “Hi! PARIS Cluster 2030” project led by IP Paris and HEC Paris

The consortium led by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IP Paris) - of which École Polytechnique is a founding member alongside ENSTA Paris, ENSAE Paris, Télécom Paris, Télécom SudParis - and HEC Paris has won, through their joint interdisciplinary center on artificial intelligence and data analysis, Hi! PARIS, a call for projects as part of the IA Cluster plan launched in June 2023 by the government. The consortium also includes Inria, CNRS, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées and Université de Technologie de Troyes.

The selection of “Hi! PARIS Cluster 2030” was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron, who gathered France's top artificial intelligence talents at the French Presidency on May 21. The funding amounts to 70 million euros over five years.

Proud of this success and collective momentum, École polytechnique intends to continue playing a driving role in the development of AI talent and innovation, by pursuing its initiatives within the HI! PARIS center, particularly in terms of training and research. 

 In addition to the involvement of several X laboratories, in particular the Centre de mathématiques appliquées (CMAP) and the Laboratoire d'Informatique de l'X (LIX) in the development of the Hi! PARIS center launched in September 2020, several École polytechnique chairs funded by industrial partners are dedicated to the themes of AI and data science.

The most recent, the International Chair for Teaching and Research on Trusted and Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) was inaugurated in March 2024. Supported by Crédit Agricole SA, its aim is to explore and define new methods for designing ethical, robust and secure Artificial Intelligence systems. 

 During a visit on March 8, 2024, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced at the X the creation this summer of a new ministerial agency for Defense Artificial Intelligence (AMIAD), whose research center will be located on the École campus.

In terms of education, École Polytechnique’s students have access to a number of courses specializing in AI: Bachelor's degree with a double major in mathematics and computer science, IP Paris masters courses followed as part of a double degree by polytechnique engineering students (Master Data IA and Master Data Science), the IP Paris-Université Paris Saclay-ENS-ENPC MVA (mathematical vision learning) Master course, and X-HEC double degrees: MSc&T Data Science for Busines, MSc&T Data Science for Business - Master in Finance, while the MSc X-HEC entrepreneurs offers an IA option.  From the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, students in the Polytechnique engineering cycle will benefit from around 100 hours of teaching on AI. 

École Ploytechnique's Executive Education offers a range of continuing education courses on AI aimed at senior executives, with a “Leading with Data and Artificial Intelligence” certificate, an “AI for Business” program on integrating artificial intelligence into corporate strategy, and an “Advanced AI for Data Analysis” program designed to provide professionals with the technical and strategic skills needed to harness data and AI.

In terms of innovation, AI is one of the priorities of the School's X-UP incubator, whose renewed offering should enable it to support 50 startups committed to responsible, future-friendly technologies: Greentech, HealthTech, Industries of the Future, and EdTech. Illustrating the strong presence of X graduates in artificial intelligence entrepreneurship, Mistral AI, co-founded in February 2023 by Arthur Mensch and Guillaume Lample (both X2011) and Timothée Lacroix (École Normale Supérieure), announced on December 10 that it had raised $385 million in funding, valuing it at nearly $2 billion, just eight months after its creation.

Founded in 2018, the X IA group, brings together X alumni with the aim of promoting sharing around AI and data-related initiatives. With 1,100 active members, it aims to double its strike force by 2024, to meet the growing needs of the Polytechnic community in this sector.