France puts healthcare at heart of $1.8B AI strategy

French President Emmanuel Macron has committed to investing $1.8 billion in artificial intelligence over the next four years. The spending plan will target the healthcare sector and is accompanied by a commitment to open up French data. Macron discussed the strategy following the release of a report (PDF) from a fellow French politician that sketched out an AI strategy for France and Europe. The report called for France to make health a cornerstone of its AI policy. Macron echoed the position in an interview with WiRED, in which he said healthcare is the field that drove home the potential of AI to him.