- Thales and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have signed a new partnership agreement in the field of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
- The Thales AI research team, the Group's AI accelerator for mission-critical systems, will work with the CEA team to deliver reliable AI solutions.
- Through this three-year, renewable partnership, Thales will contribute its AI expertise and deep defence and security sector knowledge, while CEA will contribute its know-how in multi-modal generative AI (based on text, images, voice, electromagnetic signals, structured data and other inputs) to accelerate the integration of AI into solutions for Thales customers with critical mission requirements.
To create trustworthy generative AI solutions, Thales’ AI Lab, Europe’s most powerful integrated laboratory for critical AI, and the CEA, one of the world’s most innovative research institutes and ranked together with Thales in the Top 100 Global Innovators by Clarivate Analytics, are collaborating to create the most trusted generative AI solutions.1 They worked together to focus on a variety of generative AI use cases, particularly for intelligence and command applications.
Bertrand Tavernier, Chief Technology Officer, Secure Communications and Information Systems, Thales: ““This partnership with CEA's AI team combines the power of their research with our work at Thales' AI Accelerator, bringing together the Group's technical expertise and deep knowledge of the defence and security sector. Our customers, including governments, armed forces and critical infrastructure operators, need trusted, unique generative AI solutions for their critical missions.”“
Alexandre Bounou, Director of the CEA List Laboratory, which specializes in smart digital systems: “This partnership builds on the long-standing collaboration between CEA and Thales and extends it to the sensitive issue of generative AI, combining the expertise and excellence of CEA's AI Safety and Security research team with the strength of Thales' AI Accelerator in the strategic area of defence and security. The partnership will support CEA's safety, security and artificial intelligence mission together with our partners and all institutional and industry stakeholders in the field.”
Military Use
The generating AI is Accelerating the OODA Command Loop (observe, orient, decide, act) and is implemented across the critical decision-making chain: sensing and data collection, data transmission and storage, data processing and decision support.
The generating AI is Your trusted smart assistant It enables users to interact with complex systems simply and efficiently, with the goal of facilitating and accelerating human decision-making and the speed of business. Information gatheringFor example, multimodal generative AI makes it possible to simultaneously extract, process, correlate, and interpret different types of information from multiple sources – including the web, social media, and sensors within an operational area – to generate summaries and accelerate the creation of reliable reports.
Thales AI Lab and CEA Interoperability within the federationTo simplify communication between member states in the context of joint operations, trusted generative AI will facilitate interaction between operators and complex systems by translating operator intent into a series of actions and translating technical terminology into the languages of the different countries involved.
Thales, a leader in trusted AI for mission-critical systems
Thales is AI with trust, cybersecurity, transparency, explainability and ethics Our products are aimed at the military, aircraft manufacturers and critical infrastructure operators. By 2023, the Group will Top Patent Applicant in AI for Mission-Critical Systems.it is 600 AI experts Thales' AI research lab accepts around 100 PhD students each year. AI accelerators in research (AI Lab) system (AI Factory for Decision Support Systems) and sensor (AI Sensors for Sonar, Radar, Radio and Optronics). Thanks to Thales' AI Accelerators and a network of world-class industry, startup and academic partners, Thales is embedding AI in more than 100 sectors. 100 Products and ServicesLeveraging cutting-edge sensor and system technology, these AI capabilities address a full range of defense, aviation, space, cybersecurity and digital identity needs. Trusted AI is designed to meet your specific needs. safety and sovereignty By meeting the needs of Thales customers, efficiency Data analysis and Decision support And speed up detection, identification and Classification While taking into account the objects of interest and specific constraints of the target scene, Cybersecurity, Embeddability and Frugality In critical environments.
CEA, a leading player in trustworthy AI for mission-critical systems
In the field of artificial intelligence, CEA has a wide range of skills, from algorithms and software development tools to computing architectures and microelectronics, making it uniquely positioned across the entire AI value chain. The hardware and software solutions that CEA develops in collaboration with academic and industrial partners target applications where AI quality and performance are critical. These include national applications where CEA is a customer (cybersecurity, defense, energy) as well as industrial applications where CEA provides expertise.
CEA has developed deep expertise in AI technologies and can support industry partners in developing innovative solutions. CEA is a CEA-List laboratory specializing in smart digital systems, with its research focus on developing high-performance, reliable and independent models.
The CEA team will work with Thales to apply its expertise more specifically to develop LLMs (Large Scale Language Models) and VLMs (Vision Language Models) for sectors and use cases targeted by Thales.
About CEA
CEA is a leading research institute working for the benefit of the French state, its economy and its people. Deeply rooted in fundamental research, it is able to offer concrete solutions to meet the needs of its citizens in four key areas: low-carbon energy, digital technologies, the medical technologies of the future, and defense and national security. As a world-leading innovator among public research institutes (Clarivate 2024), CEA acts as a catalyst and accelerator of innovation for French industry. It helps companies in all sectors to increase their competitiveness, create high-performance products that stand out from the crowd and develop pioneering solutions that make a difference to society. CEA deploys this dynamic throughout France, helping local partners to innovate themselves, contributing to the creation of sustainable value and jobs nationwide, aligned with real industrial needs. At the same time, it supports the development of 250 start-ups, an agile vector for the transfer to industry of disruptive technologies and knowledge developed in CEA's laboratories.
More information: www.cea.fr
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies focused on three business areas: defence & security, aviation & space, and cybersecurity & digital identity.
The company develops products and solutions that make the world safer, greener and more inclusive.
The Group invests nearly €4 billion per year in research and development, particularly in key innovation areas such as AI, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies and 6G.
Thales has around 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2023, the Group's sales are expected to reach €18.4 billion.
1 CEA has been named, along with Thales, to the Top 100 Innovators worldwide by Clarivate Analytics. Thales ranked among the top 100 most innovative companies in the world for the 11th consecutive yearNumber Time | Thales Group
