The General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) – the French domestic intelligence agency has now decided to pull out of the contract with Palantir, a U.S. tech company.
France is replacing Palantir with a homegrown alternative as part of its broader €655 million AI investment plan. Along with the shared state chatbot, the investment plan includes a public health chatbot called Ameli and a new public data platform.
On Tuesday, PM Sébastien Lecornu said that the DGSI contract is in favour of French rival ChapsVision.
ChapsVision is a leading French software company specialising in AI and data analytics aiming to “help enterprises and governments innovate, secure and perform.”
This announcement was made at the VivaTech conference that opened in Paris today. It’s one of the largest technology conferences in Europe, with over 180,000 attendees, 14,000 startups, and 4,000 investors from more than 170 countries, held each year in Paris, according to VivaTech.
Europe Avoids U.S. CIA-Backed Firm, Palantir
Global trade wars of the past year may have left European agencies uneasy about their reliance on US technology platforms. Palantir drew particular scrutiny. The firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and initially backed by the CIA, specialises in selling advanced AI-powered data integration tools to governments and militaries worldwide.
The relationship with DGSI has been running since 2016, with a renewal in December 2025, just six months ago. It was meant to expire in 2028; however, Palantir’s latest scrutiny has caused the relationship to terminate earlier than expected,
Palantir has come under fire in Europe over its close links to the US government. The continent is also pushing to reduce its reliance on American technology across a broad range of sensitive areas, from cloud computing and AI to social media and public-sector software.
"We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere", the French PM said in a video posted on X.
"We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools."
In April, Germany’s armed forces shared their intentions to avoid awarding contracts to Palantir. "I don't see that happening at all at the moment," Thomas Daum, in charge of the German military's cyber defence, told Handelsblatt newspaper in a Tuesday edition.
According to Reuters, Britain is also reviewing the National Health Service’s (NHS) £330 million ($440 million) data contract with Palantir following political and parliamentary pressure.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan rejected a proposed £50 million deal between Palantir and the city's police force, raising concerns over cost-effectiveness and procurement procedures. Palantir responded by threatening to take legal action.
France €655 Million AI investment Plan
The AI hype has been attracting investors around the world thanks to the SpaceX Intellectual Property Office (IPO) – listed as SPCX on Nasdaq. The upcoming IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic are planned for the U.S. stock market this year.
Earlier today, the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the new AI investment plan of €655 million ($758M). France’s AI investment plan will include funding a sovereign AI chatbot for all state services intended for a million people.
Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron also announced over €109 billion in investments for infrastructure projects at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit.
The country plans to develop a public health chatbot for Ameli, the state-run health insurance body, alongside a new digital platform designed to streamline public access to government data.
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