The AI Factory France project is being launched to promote the use of artificial intelligence in research, industry, and public services.
The official launch of the AI Factory France (AI2F) project, selected by EuroHPC in March 2025, is taking place today at Station F. The event brings together more than 150 participants, including 20 key project partners, to establish a unique hub in France. This initiative aims to facilitate access to national and European computing resources, as well as to the related expertise and services, in order to boost research and industrial and public applications of artificial intelligence.
AI Factory France: a French and European response to the challenges of AI
Driven by the European Commission as part of its AI Continent strategy and implemented by EuroHPC, the AI Factories (AIFs) represent a major pillar of the European and national response to the strategic challenges posed by AI. These AI Factories are “dynamic ecosystems” designed to accompany national and European supercomputers optimized for AI. They will provide not only computing resources but also tailored services—such as training programs and technical support—to industrial and academic stakeholders seeking to advance AI research and its applications across the economy and society.
A public–private partnership serving research and innovation
The AI Factory France project is one of 19 initiatives selected by EuroHPC and aims to bring together a unique ecosystem in Europe, involving startups, SMEs, large corporations, research organizations, data centers, universities, business and engineering schools, think tanks, incubators, and investors.
Coordinated by GENCI and co-led with Inria as part of the national digital programs agency, in partnership with a broad coalition of public and private stakeholders (AMIAD, CEA, CINES, CNRS, HubFranceIA, Mission French Tech, Station F), as well as representatives of the nine AI Clusters (Université de Toulouse, Université de Grenoble, Université de Strasbourg / Université de Lorraine, Sorbonne Université, Hi! Paris, Université Paris-Saclay, PSL – Paris Sciences et Lettres, Université Côte d’Azur, Université de Rennes, and France Universités), the AI2F project will deploy a national and European-scale platform designed to address the threefold AI challenge—compute, data, and skills—through a range of practical services.
The project will notably strengthen the French technical expertise and support center, bringing together GENCI and the three national centers—CINES (for universities), IDRIS (for CNRS), and TGCC (for CEA). This center assists users in accessing and utilizing national computing resources, including supercomputers, large public datasets, and open-source tools and models.
In the long term, AI2F’s offering aims to meet the needs identified by its partners across 13 industrial sectors. These “vertical domains”, which seek to address major scientific, societal, and industrial challenges, will take shape through specialized communities that will provide AI2F users with tailored resources—data, methods, tools—and expertise adapted to their specific fields.
Who is it for?
AI Factory France targets four main categories of users:
Public computing resources serving French and European excellence
France will contribute its expertise and computing infrastructure, notably through the Jean Zay supercomputer, operated by CNRS on behalf of GENCI, which underwent a major upgrade in 2024, and the forthcoming exascale supercomputer Alice Recoque, operated by CEA on behalf of EuroHPC and GENCI, scheduled to be deployed by the end of 2026.
AI2F will act as a true accelerator of AI research, innovation, and applications, serving science, industry, and society. It will provide all relevant stakeholders with access to a comprehensive ecosystem offering resources (computing power, data, models, and tools), expertise, and services (training and technical support).
In this context, a dedicated hub will be launched in early 2026 to facilitate access to national public computing resources, including Jean Zay at IDRIS, Adastra at CINES, Joliot-Curie at TGCC, and the forthcoming Alice Recoque, France’s exascale supercomputer.
To ensure continuity between public and private sectors, this offering will later be enhanced with access to private computing resources, provided in part by French and European partners, to support the commercial deployment of AI solutions developed using AI2F’s public supercomputing infrastructure.
Key figures: