Artificial intelligence (AI), which aims to reproduce human intelligence by using computers and mathematics, emerged in the 1950s, influenced in particular by the work of Alan Turing. According to the OECD, AI start-ups attracted nearly 12% of global private equity in the first half of 2018, up from 3% in 2011. Research publications have followed a similar trend, with more than 1.2 million publications in 2019, compared with fewer than 40,000 in 2010. As a result, AI has become an issue of growing priority for public authorities. The adoption by many States of national plans to encourage its development since 2017 bears witness to this. In France, a national strategy for artificial intelligence (NSAI) was launched in March 2018, with an initial €1,527m of public funding for the period 2018-2022, followed in November 2021 by a new so-called “acceleration” phase announced for the period 2022-2025, with the aim of increasing France’s competitiveness and attractiveness in this area. The report published today by the Court of Accounts is an ongoing evaluation of the NSAI, focusing on the “research” and “higher education” components, i.e. the main funding components.
