École Polytechnique hosts the scientific international conference of the AI Action Summit

On February 6 and 7, École Polytechnique will host an international scientific conference on artificial intelligence entitled “AI Science and Society”, bringing together researchers, business leaders, policy-makers and experts to discuss the impact of AI on science and society.

This conference is organized by the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, of which the École Polytechnique is a founding member, under the direction of Professor Eric Moulines (École Polytechnique) and Michael Jordan (UC Berkeley/Inria). It will take place ahead of the Summit for Action on AI, scheduled for February 10 and 11 at the Grand Palais in Paris, on the initiative of the French Presidency.

The Summit will bring together heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, small and large companies, academics, researchers, non-governmental organizations, artists and other members of civil society. A wide range of countries and sectors will be represented to make the summit as inclusive as possible.

The AI revolution is poised to transform jobs, education, culture, economies around the world. Building on the important milestones set at the Bletchley Park (November 2023) and Seoul (May 2024) Summits, this Summit will focus on concrete actions to ensure that the development and deployment of AI benefits our societies, our economies and the environment, and does so in the public interest and with respect for the common good.

École Polytechnique, a driving force behind AI

École Polytechnique continues to play a driving role in developing AI talent and innovation, pursuing its initiatives as part of the HI! PARIS center, particularly in terms of training and research.

Several École Polytechnique’s laboratories, in particular the Centre for Apllied Mathematics (CMAP) and the Computer Science Laboratory (LIX), are indeed heavily involved in the development of the Hi! PARIS center launched in September 2020, which won a €70 million call for projects as part of the IA Cluster plan launched in June 2023 by the government.

Several École Polytechnique’s chairs funded by industrial partners are dedicated to AI and data science.

The latest, the AI and Mobility Chair launched in September 2024 and funded by the SNCF Group, will mobilize Polytechnique engineering students on sustainable mobility issues. Led by Sonia Vanier, a professor at École Polytechnique, it will focus on optimizing the management of transport infrastructures, the reliability of rolling stock thanks to predictive maintenance, the planning of road maintenance tasks, the prediction of work dates to minimize their impact on traffic, as well as the prediction of delays and their repercussions to improve passenger information.

An international teaching and research Chair in Trusted and Responsible Artificial Intelligence (TRAI) was inaugurated in March 2024. Also headed by Sonia Vanier and supported by Crédit Agricole SA, this Chair aims to explore and define new methods for designing ethical, robust and secure Artificial Intelligence systems.

During a visit on March 8, 2024, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced at École Polytechnique the creation during the summer of a new ministerial agency for Defense Artificial Intelligence (AMIAD), whose research hub will be located on the School’s campus.

In terms of training, 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 taken 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 (mathematics vision learning) Master's degree, and X-HEC double degrees: MSc&T Data Science for Business, 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 Polytechnique’s Executive Education (X-EXED) 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.

X alumni in full force

When it comes to innovation, École Polytechnique’s graduates have a strong presence in artificial intelligence entrepreneurship. For example, 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, valuing the company at nearly $2 billion, just eight months after its creation. Launched by two X alumni brothers, Matthieu and Pierre Desjardins, C12, a pioneer in the use of carbon nanotubes to build a universal quantum computer, recently completed a second round of financing worth 18 million euros.

At a roundtable discussion with pupils and students at the École polytechnique, Xavier Niel, telecoms and digital entrepreneur, press boss, co-founder of the station F incubator and several digital training schools, highlighted the contribution of École Polytechnique’s graduates to France's presence in AI.

“France is in the world's Top 4 in AI and certainly first in Europe,” said Xavier Niel. 

“When people ask me why France is ahead in AI, I always cite a School and it's yours. There's not a company, not a laboratory that works in the world [in the field of AI, ed. note] without there being a Frenchman on a team, usually from your School,” he added. 

During the 32nd edition of X-Forum, an annual event bringing together students from l'X and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, and over 150 international companies, schools and universities, which took place on the X campus on November 26 and 27, members of the X IA group gave a talk on career opportunities in artificial intelligence, to share their professional experience and advise students.