Banque de France Plans Mistral AI Rollout on a Sovereign Cloud

The Banque de France plans to deploy Mistral AI on a sovereign cloud and develop open-source virtualization for its private cloud as it seeks tighter control over critical technology.

The planned Mistral AI rollout would support staff and help protect the bank’s information systems. The virtualization project is underway and is intended for the bank’s private cloud.

Denis Beau, first deputy governor of the Banque de France and delegated chairman of the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR), described the projects at an Association Europe-Finances-Régulations seminar in Paris on Oct. 15. The bank published his speech Oct. 20.

The work falls under a digital-sovereignty doctrine adopted to guide the bank’s 2028 strategic roadmap. The doctrine emphasizes control of the bank’s data and infrastructure, along with the skills needed to operate them. Beau said dependence on a handful of technology vendors can expose financial firms to concentration and lock-in risks.

Beau also cited an estimate of €264 billion in annual spending by European Union companies on software and cloud services that benefit the U.S. economy. The estimate was modeled from interviews with six large-company chief information officers because trade and profit data were too incomplete for a robust direct measurement.