In Short:
Xavier Niel emphasizes the need for Europe to invest in AI now to compete with Asia and the US. He is connected to various French startups and recently invested €200 million in AI, including launching a lab called Kyutai. Niel aims to create open-source AI tools and develop local cloud services. His involvement with ByteDance raises questions about balancing these goals.
If Europe wishes to compete effectively with Asia and the US in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), immediate action is imperative. Xavier Niel, a prominent figure in the French tech ecosystem, emphasizes that the current opportunity to establish a competitive presence in AI may soon diminish. “If you want to create a search engine now from scratch, you cannot win because you were not there 25 years ago,” he remarks, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Connections Within the French Startup Ecosystem
Niel has extensive ties to many of France’s up-and-coming startups. He is an investor in Mistral AI, which boasts a valuation of €5.8 billion ($6.4 billion), as well as in another emerging AI firm, H. Additionally, Scaleway, the cloud service utilized by Mistral, is a subsidiary of Iliad, which Niel also founded. The team behind Hugging Face, an influential platform for AI developers, has previously collaborated within the Station F startup campus that Niel launched seven years ago. Before establishing Station F, Niel was instrumental in creating École 42, an innovative computer science school.
Investment in Homegrown AI Innovations
Niel’s commitment to fostering native AI solutions in Europe is evident through his recent €200 million ($220 million) investment in the French AI sector made in September. Half of this funding is allocated for the establishment of Kyutai, a non-profit research laboratory located in Paris, which introduced an AI voice assistant named Moshi this past summer. While Moshi shares characteristics with OpenAI’s voice assistant, it was made publicly available for testing in July, circumventing the safety delays experienced by OpenAI.
Open Science and AI Development
According to Niel, the mission of Kyutai is to develop AI algorithms that prioritize open science and open-source principles. He cites Linux as a prime example of an open-source tool that has achieved immense popularity, a model he aims to replicate. “Depending on the license we will attach to this thing, everybody who will make a modification will have to publish it,” he explains.
Training Data Transparency
Despite the transparency surrounding Kyutai, some aspects remain undisclosed. When questioned about the training data for Moshi, Niel is somewhat evasive, indicating that while part of the model was trained on an actress’ voice recorded in London, other data sources are also utilized. “Maybe we are not completely respecting all the rules,” he quips.
Enthusiasm for Team Collaboration
Niel expresses appreciation for the team working on Moshi at Kyutai, taking pride in their collaborative efforts. During a visit to their office, he encourages a team member to demonstrate their interactions with Moshi, leading to light-hearted exchanges about Niel’s English proficiency.
Strategizing AI Infrastructure in France
In addition to his work with Kyutai and other startup investments, Niel is contemplating the future of AI infrastructure in France. His vision for Scaleway, the cloud provider he founded, revolves around enabling major European enterprises to utilize a local cloud service rather than relying on American providers. To facilitate this, he is proactively acquiring the necessary GPUs, primarily from NVIDIA, as European alternatives are still lacking.
“I think we are the biggest private buyers of NVIDIA GPUs in Europe,” he states.
A Vision for Europe’s AI Landscape
At the core of Niel’s efforts is a determination to prevent France — and by extension, Europe — from falling behind in the age of AI. “Or in the end, we will be the nicest place in the world for museums,” he cautions.
Furthermore, while the details surrounding his new role at ByteDance remain somewhat ambiguous in relation to his objectives for enhancing French AI capabilities, this alignment with the Chinese tech giant, particularly as it prepares to combat a potential U.S. ban in court, certainly reflects Niel’s instinct for disruption.
