Rodolphe Saadé, the chairman of CMA CGM, has announced plans to invest in ventures outside of the company’s core container shipping segment following a record-breaking annual profit in French history last year. Among these ventures is the establishment of a media division and an air cargo business, as well as a foray into artificial intelligence.

Saadé, along with Eric Schmidt and Xavier Niel, recently launched Kyutai, an AI open science lab. Kyutai is a non-profit laboratory dedicated to open research in AI, aimed at addressing the main challenges facing modern AI. The laboratory will focus on developing large multimodal models and inventing new algorithms to enhance their capacities, reliability, and efficiency. Kyutai will utilize the high-performance computing power provided by Scaleway, which is part of Niel’s tech empire.

Kyutai has received nearly €300 million in investments so far and is committed to democratizing AI by sharing its advances with the entire AI ecosystem. This includes scientists, developers, companies, and decision-makers from democracies around the world. Saadé expressed his desire for young people to benefit from the opportunities offered by AI through Kyutai and ensure that researchers have access to the resources they need to create and innovate for future generations.

The involvement of CMA CGM in AI research stems from a desire to put France at the forefront of artificial intelligence research while creating a dynamic and innovative ecosystem that can keep businesses competitive in Europe. Saadé emphasized that collaboration is crucial when it comes to preparing for the future in this field.