The non-profit laboratory Kyutai was founded through a joint venture between the iliad Group, the CMA CGM Group, and Schmidt Futures. Each of these companies has contributed $110 million to fund the research facility, which is dedicated to advancing open research in artificial intelligence (AI).

Kyutai’s goal is to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing modern AI. This includes developing large multimodal models and inventing new algorithms that can improve their performance, reliability, and efficiency. The laboratory has already attracted a team of researchers with both academic and business backgrounds.

Rodolphe Saadé, President and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, spoke about his excitement for this new investment in AI. “Through this venture, we aim to provide young people with all the opportunities that this technology has to offer. Thanks to Kyutai, researchers will have access to all the resources they need to create and innovate for the future,” he said.

Xavier Niel, Chairman and Founder of the iliad Group shared his view on Europe’s potential in the AI race. “We believe that France’s researchers are among the best in the world, we have all the computing power needed and a dynamic AI ecosystem. By establishing an open research lab here in Paris, we hope to accelerate our progress even further.”

Patrick Pérez, CEO of Kyutai added that “Our ambition is to build an exceptional research team and take on some of