France ends partnership with US analytics firm Palantir

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that the national domestic intelligence agency decided to terminate its contract with US-based data analytics company Palantir Technologies.

Lecornu announced in a video posted through the US social media company X that the agency decided to replace Palantir with the French company ChapsVision.

"We have seen too often what it costs us to depend on others, including recently, when we have to pay for fuel or import medicines. We will therefore support French and European solutions more strongly, whenever they exist and meet the needs of the state," Lecornu noted.

Pointing to how artificial intelligence will change the way the world produces, learns, and thinks, and how it is reshaping the way states carry out their missions, he stressed France’s responsibility to ensure this revolution benefits the French people.

"First, all public officials will be equipped with a shared sovereign chatbot. Because we cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers, France must therefore have its own tools," Lecornu said.

He stressed the need to protect the state's data, describing it as France's wealth.

"Our digital sovereignty is non-negotiable," Lecornu added.

He further announced that most advanced technologies developed by the Ministry of Armed Forces would be progressively opened up to other administrations starting this year.

Lecornu further announced that the France 2030 program will allocate an additional €655 million ($759 million) to the development of artificial intelligence.

"Our goal is clear: to support infrastructure, computing capacity, research, companies, and industrial sectors that will ensure tomorrow’s power," he said.

Lecornu also recalled the significance of building technological sovereignty, warning that they cannot depend on the "goodwill of certain partners."

"Europe must therefore find its place -- a unique place -- because what is at stake here is nothing less than the protection of our democratic values," he added.