The chief executive of a French artificial intelligence company has responded to recent papal concerns about military applications of AI technology, maintaining that European nations must develop defensive capabilities in response to global threats.
Arthur Mensch, who serves as CEO and co-founder of the AI startup Mistral, addressed the controversy during remarks Thursday in Paris. “We’re all for peace, but if you look at our rivals and adversaries in the world, they’re using artificial intelligence […] As long as we have adversaries that are threatening, and they are threatening, we do need to have our own capabilities,” Mensch stated.
The company simultaneously revealed plans for a new computing facility in Les Ulis, France.
Key developments include:
• Pope Leo released a statement Monday calling for global oversight to limit AI system development, expressing concerns about potential misinformation spread and risks of ongoing conflicts. The papal document also condemned military AI applications.
• When questioned about these remarks, Mistral stood by its military AI work. The firm currently supplies artificial intelligence technology to French armed forces.
• The company unveiled its Les Ulis data center project, featuring 10 megawatts of processing capacity and scheduled to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026.
• This facility joins two previously announced data centers in Sweden and France, representing part of a €4 billion investment strategy aimed at achieving 200 MW of computing capacity by late 2027.
• Data center developments are encountering community resistance globally, including within France.
• Regarding recent incidents where students disrupted AI executives speaking at American graduation events, Mensch commented: “I think there is some expected anguish around artificial intelligence, in that it’s profoundly changing the way people are working.”
• “It’s not the first time that people are a bit anguished at something coming up. But we’ll be fine. We’ll find a way to use it efficiently,” he continued.
