We cannot depend on the goodwill of certain partners, who are capable of turning off the access tap.
In a move that speaks to the deepest anxieties of the digital age, France has announced it will replace the American data firm Palantir inside its domestic intelligence service with a homegrown alternative, ChapsVision. Prime Minister Lecornu framed the decision not merely as a procurement choice but as an act of national self-determination — a refusal to let the infrastructure of sovereignty rest in foreign hands. The decision echoes across Europe, where governments are beginning to ask whether dependence on American technology is a convenience they can no longer afford.
- France's intelligence agency is severing ties with Palantir after years of reliance, with Prime Minister Lecornu warning that no nation can afford to let a foreign power hold the 'off switch' to its critical systems.
- The anxiety is not abstract — Washington recently restricted foreign access to a leading American AI model, and Palantir's co-founder is a close ally of Donald Trump, sharpening European fears about political leverage embedded in commercial contracts.
- Germany has already dropped Palantir from its military, Britain is reviewing a £330 million NHS contract, and London's mayor blocked a £50 million police deal — a pattern suggesting a continent-wide reckoning with American tech dependency.
- ChapsVision, a French firm a fraction of Palantir's size, is emerging as the chosen instrument of European digital autonomy, already selected by Germany's internal security service and now set to become the backbone of French public data infrastructure.
- France is backing the pivot with €655 million in domestic AI investment, rolling out a Mistral-powered chatbot to a million civil servants — signaling that this is not a retreat but a deliberate construction of sovereign technological ground.
France's domestic intelligence service is ending its relationship with Palantir, the American data-analysis giant, and turning to ChapsVision, a French firm founded in 2019. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the shift this week, framing it as a matter of national necessity: France, he argued, cannot accept strategic dependence on tools controlled by foreign powers, nor can it trust that access to critical systems will never be switched off by a partner government.
The transition will take several years — Palantir's contract with the DGSI was renewed as recently as 2025 — but the destination is clear. ChapsVision, which recorded €200 million in revenue last year against Palantir's $4.5 billion, will become the technological foundation for French public agencies handling sensitive data. Germany's internal security service has already made the same choice.
The decision lands against a backdrop of mounting European unease. Washington recently restricted foreign nationals' access to a major American AI model. Germany's military has abandoned Palantir entirely. Britain is reviewing the NHS's £330 million contract with the company, and London's mayor blocked a proposed £50 million deal with the Metropolitan Police — prompting Palantir to threaten legal action. Palantir's own history adds texture to the concern: co-founded by Peter Thiel, a Trump ally, the company has provided software to US immigration enforcement and supported targeting operations in the American-Israeli campaign against Iran.
France is not simply swapping vendors. Lecornu announced a €655 million investment in domestic AI infrastructure, and the government is deploying a chatbot built on models from French startup Mistral AI to one million civil servants — designed to handle legal and administrative tasks while keeping sensitive work off American commercial platforms. The ambition is larger than any single contract: to own the tools that run the state, and to stop treating American technology as inevitable infrastructure.
France's domestic intelligence agency is walking away from Palantir, the American data-analysis firm, and turning instead to a homegrown alternative. The decision, announced by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu this week, marks a deliberate pivot away from what French officials now see as a dangerous reliance on foreign-controlled technology. "We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere," Lecornu said in a social media post. "We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools."
The shift to ChapsVision, a French company founded in 2019, is not happening overnight. Palantir's contract with the DGSI intelligence service was renewed as recently as 2025, and the transition is expected to stretch across several years. But the direction is clear: France wants to build what Lecornu called "real autonomy," freeing itself from the possibility that any foreign government could simply cut off access to critical systems. "We cannot depend on the goodwill of certain partners, who are capable of turning off the access tap," he said.
The move reflects a widening anxiety across Europe about American technological dominance. Last week, Washington restricted foreign nationals' access to Anthropic's latest AI model—a reminder that US companies operate under US government authority. Germany's military has already abandoned Palantir's products. Britain is reviewing the National Health Service's £330 million contract with the company after political pressure. London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, blocked a proposed £50 million Palantir deal with the Metropolitan Police, citing value-for-money concerns; Palantir has since threatened legal action. The pattern suggests that European governments are no longer comfortable outsourcing their most sensitive data operations to American firms.
ChapsVision, which generated €200 million in revenue last year compared to Palantir's $4.5 billion, is positioning itself as the answer. The company says its technology—which collects, prepares, and analyzes data—will become the "technological foundation" for French public agencies handling critical information. Germany's internal security service, the BfV, has already selected ChapsVision's tools. Palantir, for its part, said it would "continue to support the French government wherever its solutions are needed," a measured response to losing a major client.
Palantir's history complicates the picture. Co-founded by rightwing billionaire Peter Thiel, an ally of Donald Trump, the company has supplied software to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement during immigration crackdowns and has worked with the US government to identify targets in the American-Israeli campaign against Iran. Campaign groups have long flagged the company's products as surveillance risks, warning of threats to individual privacy and data protection. Palantir maintains it simply provides powerful data-processing services, leaving the ethical questions to its clients.
France is not just swapping one vendor for another. Lecornu announced a €655 million investment in domestic artificial intelligence infrastructure, including funding for computing capacity, research, and French companies. The government is rolling out a chatbot built on models from Mistral AI, a French startup, to 1 million of its 2.6 million civil servants. The system is designed to speed up legal cases, help researchers secure grants, and handle other routine tasks—while keeping sensitive government work away from commercial American platforms. A separate public health chatbot is planned for the state-owned health insurance agency. The investments signal a broader European determination to build technological sovereignty, to own the tools that run their governments, and to stop treating American tech companies as inevitable infrastructure.
Citações Notáveis
We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in the digital sphere. We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers.— Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu
We cannot depend on the goodwill of certain partners, who are capable of turning off the access tap for artificial intelligence.— Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does France care so much about who owns the software? Isn't Palantir just a tool?
A tool controlled by a foreign government is not neutral. If Washington decides to restrict access or demands data, France has no recourse. That's the strategic dependency Lecornu is talking about.
But ChapsVision is much smaller. Can it actually do what Palantir does?
That's the real question. ChapsVision has the technology, and Germany's already using it. But Palantir has years of refinement and billions in resources. France is betting that being smaller and French is worth the trade-off.
Is this just France being paranoid about America?
Look at what's happened in the last few weeks. Washington restricted access to Anthropic's AI. Germany dropped Palantir entirely. Britain is reviewing a £330 million contract. This isn't paranoia—it's a pattern.
What about Palantir's work with ICE and Iran? Does that factor in?
It does for some people. Campaign groups have been warning about Palantir's surveillance risks for years. But the official reason France gave is strategic autonomy, not ethics. Though they're connected.
So is Europe trying to build its own tech giants?
Not overnight. But yes—France is investing €655 million in AI infrastructure, building government tools on French models. It's a long game. They're saying we can't afford to be dependent anymore.
Will other countries follow?
They already are. Germany, Britain, others are all reviewing their Palantir contracts. This could reshape how governments buy technology.