Hacker News with Generative AI: France

Mistral's Le Chat tops 1M downloads in just 14 days (techcrunch.com)
A couple of weeks after the initial release of Mistral’s AI assistant, Le Chat, the company told Le Parisien that it has reached one million downloads.
Generative AI, AI Assistants, Business, France
67 points by oliverchan2024 2 days ago | 22 comments
France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.
France, Nuclear Fusion, Energy, Science
11 points by jonbaer 2 days ago | 1 comments
France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes (newatlas.com)
France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – a new record.
France, Fusion Energy, Energy, Science, Records
9 points by brohee 2 days ago | 1 comments
Nuclear fusion: WEST beats the world record for plasma duration (cea.fr)
On 12 February, the CEA’s WEST machine was able to maintain a plasma for more than 22 minutes. In doing so, it smashed the previous record for plasma duration achieved with a tokamak. This leap forward demonstrates how our knowledge of plasmas and technological control of them over longer periods is becoming more mature, and offers hope that fusion plasmas can be stabilised for greater amounts of time in machines such as ITER.
Nuclear Fusion, Science, Energy, Technology, France
482 points by mpweiher 3 days ago | 494 comments
ProtonVPN: Site Blocking Is an Attack on Users' Online Freedom (torrentfreak.com)
In France, rightsholders have taken legal action to get large VPN providers on board with their pirate site blocking program. The aim is to prevent circumvention of existing blocking measures in place to reduce widespread copyright infringement. From the VPN provider's perspective, site blocking threatens online freedom. Swiss provider ProtonVPN describes blocking as 'a dangerous attack on Internet freedom on the altar of corporate greed'.
VPNs, Internet Freedom, Copyright, France, Digital Rights
5 points by hn_acker 4 days ago | 0 comments
France unveils 109B-euro AI investment (cnbc.com)
France, Artificial Intelligence, Government Funding, Investment, Europe
44 points by tolarianwiz 11 days ago | 16 comments
Mistral Gets Down to Business (techcrunch.com)
Hundreds of heads of states, tech CEOs, and nonprofits have flocked to Paris for the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit. So far, the winner of this week’s diplomatic and business parade seems to be Mistral.
Artificial Intelligence, Business, France
18 points by rntn 11 days ago | 0 comments
Microsoft Hit by French Antitrust Probe over Rivals' Bing Access (bloomberg.com)
Microsoft Corp. is under investigation from the French antitrust authority amid concerns the US tech giant is degrading the quality of results when smaller rivals pay to use Bing technology in their own search-engine products.
Antitrust, Microsoft, Search Engines, Competition, France
4 points by nabla9 11 days ago | 0 comments
France's answer to US' Stargate: $112B AI investment package (techcrunch.com)
Late Sunday local time the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced a total of €109 billion in private investments in the AI ecosystem — or around $112 billion at current exchange rates.
France, Artificial Intelligence, Investment, Government Initiatives, Technology
6 points by Baguette5242 11 days ago | 1 comments
Europe 'not in the AI race today,' French President Macron says (cnn.com)
Europe, Artificial Intelligence, Politics, France
11 points by rntn 12 days ago | 3 comments
Tesla January sales plunged 63% in France (tipranks.com)
Tesla’s (TSLA) January sales plunged 63% in France, the second biggest market in the European Union for electric vehicles (EVs).
Tesla, Electric Vehicles, France, Automotive Industry, Sales
34 points by belter 18 days ago | 22 comments
Tesla Sales Plunge 63% in EU's Second-Biggest EV Market (bnnbloomberg.ca)
Tesla Inc. registrations plummeted 63% last month in France, the European Union’s second-biggest market for battery-electric vehicles.
Tesla, Electric Vehicles, France, European Union, Business
44 points by bparsons 18 days ago | 2 comments
Paris P2P Festival and Hackathon (p2p.paris)
April 9th to 11th, 2025
Events, Technology, France
56 points by zxxma 24 days ago | 11 comments
French police free kidnapped Ledger executive (moneycheck.com)
A violent 24-hour kidnapping of Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife ended in their rescue by French police following demands for cryptocurrency ransom.
Cryptocurrency, Crime, France, Business
176 points by ilamont 28 days ago | 138 comments
Ledger CEO and Wife Are Freed After Kidnapping (nytimes.com)
Crime, Business, France
12 points by jervant 29 days ago | 3 comments
Kidnapping of Ledger co-founder sparks major investigation in France (leberry.fr)
Dans le cadre de l’enquête sur la disparition d’un entrepreneur, de nombreux gendarmes et policiers étaient déployés dans le Vierzonnais, ce mercredi 22 janvier. Selon nos informations, ils enquêtent sur l’enlèvement de l’un des cofondateurs de la start-up Ledger, David Balland.
Cryptocurrency, Crime, France
26 points by doxxx 30 days ago | 14 comments
Curse tablet found in Roman-era grave in France targets enemies by invoking Mars (livescience.com)
Archaeology, History, Ancient Rome, France, Religion
32 points by diodorus 32 days ago | 14 comments
Viagra-laced 'erectile honey' is flooding into France, officials warn (politico.eu)
France last year seized record quantities of illegally imported “erectile honey” laced with Viagra and other medications, customs officials said Monday.
France, Health, Drugs, Sexual Health, Illegal Imports
41 points by mschuster91 32 days ago | 49 comments
France's 2024 Power Grid Was 95% Fossil Free as Nuclear, Renewables Jumped (bloomberg.com)
France’s low-carbon electricity output surged to more than 95% of annual power production for the first time in 2024, as rising nuclear and hydro generation squeezed the use of fossil fuels.
France, Energy, Nuclear Power, Renewable Energy, Climate Change
10 points by toomuchtodo 32 days ago | 1 comments
French group encourages mass departure from X platform on US Inauguration Day (euronews.com)
A group of French organisations are asking the public to leave X on January 20th, the day that incoming US President Donald Trump will be inaugurated.
Social Media, France, Politics, US Politics
8 points by donohoe 32 days ago | 1 comments
Ys (wikipedia.org)
Ys (pronounced /ˈiːs/ EESS), also spelled Is or Kêr-Is in Breton, and Ville d'Ys in French, is a mythical city on the coast of Brittany that was swallowed up by the ocean.
Mythology, Brittany, France
52 points by sans_souse 35 days ago | 9 comments
French group encourages mass departure from Elon Musk's X platform (euronews.com)
A group of French organisations are asking the public to leave X on January 20th, the day that incoming US President Donald Trump will be inaugurated.
Social Media, Politics, France, Elon Musk
13 points by doener 36 days ago | 1 comments
Designing the Sublime Boullée and Ledoux's Architectural Revolution (publicdomainreview.org)
As dissatisfaction with the old regime fermented into revolutionary upheaval in late-eighteenth century France, two architects cast off the decorative excesses of the Baroque and Rococo styles and sought out bold, new geometries.
Architecture, History, France
17 points by tintinnabula 36 days ago | 3 comments
AI Brad Pitt dupes French woman out of €830k (bbc.co.uk)
A French woman who was conned out of €830,000 (£700,000; $850,000) by scammers posing as actor Brad Pitt has faced a huge wave of mockery, leading French broadcaster TF1 to withdraw a programme about her.
Artificial Intelligence, Scams, Celebrity, France
70 points by monkeydust 37 days ago | 127 comments
17th-century priory in France converted into a medieval-inspired topiary garden (houseandgarden.co.uk)
An inspiring sense of complete peace pervades the garden of Le Prieuré de Vauboin, an old priory in Sarthe, in western France, following its medieval-inspired conversion into a green sanctuary defined by formal parterres and a spectacular array of box topiary
Gardening, History, France
67 points by NoRagrets 44 days ago | 6 comments
Picasso was suspected of stealing the 'Mona Lisa' (newyorker.com)
In 1911, the world’s most famous painting was stolen from the Louvre.
Art Theft, History, Art, France, Painting
90 points by bookofjoe 45 days ago | 56 comments
A sneak peek at Notre-Dame's new stained glass designs (smithsonianmag.com)
The French government has revealed modern designs to replace six of Notre-Dame’s windows with new stained glass, which commemorate the cathedral's successful restoration after it was nearly burned down.
Architecture, Art, France, History, Restoration
46 points by prismatic 57 days ago | 40 comments
The New York Bookstore That Lets You Visit France for an Afternoon (nytimes.com)
Albertine, in a Fifth Avenue mansion, is a portal to both Gilded Age New York and the Francophone world.
New York, Books, France, Culture
6 points by rmason 60 days ago | 2 comments
France Links First New Nuclear Reactor to Grid Since 1999 (yahoo.com)
Electricite de France SA connected a new nuclear reactor to the French power grid for the first time in a quarter century on Saturday, adding low-carbon electricity supply at a time when a sputtering economy has made demand sluggish.
Nuclear Power, France, Energy, Economy
24 points by isaacfrond 60 days ago | 2 comments
France's most powerful nuclear reactor connected to grid after 17-year build (lemonde.fr)
France connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid on Saturday, December 21, in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays, budget overruns and technical setbacks.
Nuclear Energy, France, Energy, Infrastructure
44 points by toomuchtodo 61 days ago | 24 comments