Launch of Europe’s first independent research lab dedicated to AI open science

Kyutai, the first European private-initiative laboratory dedicated to open research in artificial intelligence, was launched at Station F (Paris) in the presence of its scientific team and its three co-founders, Xavier Niel, Rodolphe Saadé and Eric Schmidt, CMA CGM said in a media release.

Kyutai is a non-profit laboratory entirely dedicated to open research in AI. Its objective is to tackle the main challenges of modern AI, particularly by developing large multimodal models – using text but also sound, images, etc. – and by inventing new algorithms to enhance their capacities, reliability and efficiency. To do this, the laboratory will use the computing power made available to it by Scaleway, an iliad Group subsidiary. Scaleway's supercomputer has the highest-performance computing power for AI applications deployed to date in Europe.

Resolutely committed to the democratization of AI, Kyutai is positioning itself as a leading player in AI open science. Its ambition is to share its advances with the entire AI ecosystem – the scientific community, developers, companies, society at large and decision-makers in democracies.

Kyutai will also contribute to the training of future AI experts, by offering internships to students on Master’s programs and supervising PhD students and postdocs.

Kyutai was founded jointly by the iliad Group, the CMA CGM Group and Schmidt Futures.

The iliad Group and the CMA CGM Group have each contributed €100 million to funding the research laboratory.

Schmidt Futures has also joined as a co-founder, forging a strong partnership based on a shared commitment to this project.

With nearly €300 million already invested in it, Kyutai is seeking to bring other private investors on board. The co-founders are inviting other entities to join them to provide long-term financing for the work of this non-profit organization.

Kyutai has already brought on board a team of researchers with outstanding academic and business backgrounds. Kyutai’s offices are based in Paris.

Its roadmap includes, in particular, developing large multimodal models and studying their capacities, reliability, interpretation, frugality and evaluation. Resolutely committed to the democratization of AI, Kyutai is positioning itself as a leading player in AI open science. Its ambition is to share its advances with the entire AI ecosystem (the scientific community, developers and companies, society at large and decision-makers in democracies) and to contribute to training future AI experts.

Created in the early 1990s, the iliad Group is the inventor of the world’s first triple-play box and has grown into a major European telecoms player, standing out for its innovative, straightforward and attractive offerings. The Group is the parent of Free in France, iliad in Italy and Play-UPC Polska in Poland, has over 16,700 employees serving 47.8 million subscribers, and generated €8.6 billion in revenues in the last 12 months. In France, the Group is an integrated Fixed and Mobile Ultra-Fast Broadband operator and had 22.1 million retail subscribers at September 30, 2023 (14.7 million Mobile subscribers and 7.3 million Fixed-line subscribers). In Italy, the Group is the country’s fourth Mobile operator and had 10.6 million Mobile subscribers at June 30, 2023. In Poland, the Group had 13.0 million Mobile subscribers and 2.0 million Fixed-line subscribers at end-June 2023. The iliad Group is Europe’s sixth-largest operator by number of retail Mobile subscribers (excluding M2M) and Fixed-line Internet subscribers.

Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group, a global player in sea, land, air and logistics solutions, serves more than 420 ports around the world across five continents, with a fleet of some 621 vessels. The Group transported 21.7 million TEU containers (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2022. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, a global logistics player that transported 522,000 tonnes of air cargo and more than 22 million shipments of inland freight, and its air cargo division CMA CGM Air Cargo, the CMA CGM Group is constantly innovating to provide customers a comprehensive and increasingly efficient offering thanks to new shipping, inland, air freight and logistics solutions. Firmly committed to the energy transition in shipping and a pioneer in its use of alternative fuels, the CMA CGM Group has set a Net Zero-Carbon target for 2050. Each year, via the CMA CGM Foundation, the Group supports thousands of children as part of its efforts to promote education for all and equal opportunities. The CMA CGM Foundation also takes action in humanitarian crises that require urgent help, by calling on the Group’s shipping and logistics expertise to deliver humanitarian supplies around the world. Present in 160 countries through its network of more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs 155,000 people worldwide, including some 6,000 in Marseille where its head office is located.