France Drops Palantir for French Firm, Says Sébastien Lecornu
The French government has decided to replace US-based Palantir with French company ChapsVision for the General Directorate for Internal Security's data processing, aiming to achieve digital sovereignty.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday morning that French firm ChapsVision has been chosen to replace US company Palantir in handling large-scale data processing for the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI).
“We cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere,” the prime minister argued, stating his desire to “build real autonomy” so as “not to depend on the goodwill of certain partners, who are able to turn off the tap of access” to AI.
The announcement comes as a surprise, as the DGSI renewed its contract with Palantir last December for a further three years. The exact terms of the transition and the timetable for rolling out the new system have not yet been set out.
Founded by billionaire Peter Thiel with backing from the CIA, Palantir sells military-grade, AI-based data integration tools to governments and companies. Its cooperation with the DGSI dates back to the 13 November 2015 attacks, when French services turned to Palantir’s Gotham platform to handle a massive increase in data volume.
Since the first contract was signed in 2016, French intelligence chiefs had regularly portrayed this reliance on US technology as a temporary solution, pending the emergence of a credible national alternative.
The unpredictability of US President Donald Trump has led European allies to question whether decades of American support in security and technology can still be taken for granted. Washington last week ordered US AI start-up Anthropic to deny “any foreign national” access to its two most powerful models, citing national security. This prompted reactions from several French presidential candidates, warning of an “AI war” and stressing the need for independence from the US.
Earlier this year, the German army said it would no longer use Palantir, while the UK is reviewing a £330 million (€382 million) data contract between the National Health Service and Palantir following political pressure. London mayor Sadiq Khan has also blocked a proposed £50 million contract between Palantir and the capital’s police force.
Lecornu also said France plans to invest €655 million in artificial intelligence and roll out a single chatbot for all government services. France will also develop a public health chatbot for the state health insurance agency Ameli, along with a new digital platform to simplify access to public data.
For ChapsVision, the decision marks a major milestone. The company aims to become one of Europe’s leaders in data intelligence and agentic AI, and had already won an initial DGSI contract in 2024 covering heterogeneous data processing.
