The centre will be based the northwestern French city of Rennes and aims to gain NATO recognition, according to France's Ministry of Armed Forces.
France's Ministry of Armed Forces announced on Thursday the establishment of a new AI defence resilience centre, alongside a host of partner nations, which is expected to reach "operational capabilities" in 2027. The ministry told Euronews that it could not, at present, reveal the list of partner nations.
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The centre will be based the northwestern French city of Rennes and aims to gain NATO recognition, the ministry told Euronews. The move comes amid growing uncertainty over the transatlantic defence partnership, as Europe seeks to bolster its strategic autonomy and reduce its reliance on the United States.
“Faced with the technological shift brought about by artificial intelligence, our ambition is to accelerate its mastery and adoption in support of military operations, alongside our allies,” said Bertrand Rondepierre, Director of the Defence Ministry’s AI Agency.
AI has become an increasingly integral part of modern warfare since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The centres' activities are set to promote the use of AI by the armed forces, while also developing best practices.
The ministry told Euronews that the centre was initially developed within the framework of NATO’s Centres of Excellence (CoEs) — a network of international military organisations sponsored by individual or multiple nations, which provide specialised expertise for the Alliance.
When NATO paused the creation of new Centres of Excellence in order to review its policy, "France chose not to delay the project and to maintain the original timetable for establishing the centre, outside the NATO framework", said the ministry.