AI
COHERE, NOW MERGED WITH ALEPH ALPHA, DESIGNS A SOVEREIGN OFFERING WHERE USERS WILL KEEP CONTROL
A few days after unveiling Embed 5, Cohere is launching North 2, a brand-new version of its enterprise AI platform. These two announcements, taken together with the strategic partnership with Aleph Alpha, show a bigger ambition: not just to provide models, but to offer a full stack for sovereign AI that’s controllable and deployable close to the data.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, MISTRAL LAUNCHES MISTRAL LARGE 4, AN OPEN WEIGHT MODEL
Putting AI in everyone’s hands, especially businesses, to avoid total dependence on foreign closed models, this sounds like the DNA of MISTRAL. The argument is both strategic, since it’s about not relying on external APIs overnight, and sector-specific, because in sensitive areas like healthcare, finance, or defense, transparency and the ability to host the model internally are considered essential. Cybersecurity takes a central role in this positioning: the model is presented as state-of-the-art among open models in this field, with the explicit goal of helping companies and governments defend themselves against malicious actors who manage to bypass closed model protections.Coding is also a privileged target.
VIRTUALIZATION: VATES SPEEDS UP
Vates, a French publisher of open-source virtualization, announced on October 6, 2026, a funding round of 30 million euros from IRIS’s Growth fund and Bpifrance, via its Large Venture fund.So far, the company, founded in 2012 in Grenoble, had grown without external funding.VATES, which has grown 65% during the last year, benefits from the fact that many customers are looking for an alternative to Broadcom/Vmware, and seek a better visibility on price evolution, while Broadcom has more than doubled Vmware licence prices.However, according to Olivier Lambert, VATES’ CEO, companies are increasingly questioning “market concentration, licensing models, and the level of dependence on a single supplier.” He quotes the “Cloud Repatriation” movement, which means bringing workloads back from the public cloud to private or hybrid infrastructures, something that he says had started even before VMware was acquired. by Broadcom.VATES makes 90% of its revenue out of France and almost 50% in the USA: staying European is totally compatible with becoming an international champion !
CLOUD SERVICES: A NEW FRENCH CONSORTIUM
On October 9, 2026, Cloud Temple a provider of SecNumCloud-certified cloud services announced it is joining forces with Thales, Bull, Vates, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) for a call for projects titled “Strengthening the Cloud Service Offering,” managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the State.
The consortium will mobilize €47 million through the end of 2028. France 2030 will provide €20 million in public funding, with the remainder financed by the industrial partners.
The idea is to focus on new services and AI applications, and to expand them at European scale.
In the consortium, VATES, which provides the virtualization component, has just raised a 30 M€ funding to speed up its development – see the announcement in this Newsletter.
QUANTUM COMPUTING
THE FRENCH DEFENSE PROGRAM PROQCIMA CONTINUES WITHOUT PASQAL
The Ministry of Defense has pushed for the supplier to be dropped. This is due to what is considered a high risk of sensitive technology being taken abroad following the integration deal between PASQAL and the American investment company Bleichroeder. Four suppliers reamin in the program: Alice & Bob, specialized in superconducting cat qubits. C12, focused on carbon nanotube architecture. Quandela, a developer of photonic quantum chips. Quobly, a player in silicon chips.
Ecosystem Spotlight: Quandela Named Startup of the Year 2026 by L’Usine Nouvelle
In the fast-moving world of European deeptech, celebrating major milestones across our broader ecosystem is key to tracking our collective progress. We want to highlight a fantastic achievement by Quandela, which has been named Startup of the Year 2026 by L’Usine Nouvelle!
This recognition from one of France’s most established industrial voices, founded in 1891, marks a powerful milestone for European photonic quantum computing and the wider industrial tech landscape.
From Scientific Breakthrough to Industrial Scale
Quandela’s achievement highlights a critical transition facing many of Europe’s most ambitious deeptech innovators: moving from ground-breaking scientific research to robust industrial scale.
Growing to over 150 people, deploying quantum computers in the real world, and expanding internationally requires building the manufacturing capabilities, supply chains, processes, and skilled teams necessary to operate reliably on a global scale.
Building Lasting Economic Value
While scientific excellence remains at the core of deeptech’s DNA, the broader mission of companies like Quandela focuses on creating high-skilled jobs, fostering industrial expertise, and generating lasting economic value across European territories. Receiving this award from L’Usine Nouvelle serves as a fitting nod to that heavy industrial dimension.
Congratulations to the entire Quandela team for driving this incredible vision forward!
Read the full coverage in L’Usine Nouvelle
