“Our area has exceptional assets. University of Montpellier is one of the top-ranked universities in the world. The Montpellier University Hospital Center is recognized as one of the most innovative, and our metropolitan area is renowned for its dynamism, particularly through the Montpellier Business and Innovation Centre, ranked among the top five business incubators in the world. Now all these strengths are coming together around AI.”
Michaël Delafosse, Mayor of Montpellier and President of Montpellier Métropole, took the opportunity on February 17 in the Montpellier Town Hall council chamber to welcome the establishment of the Montpellier Méditerranée AI association, whose founding members include the two local authorities (city and metropolitan), along with the Occitanie / Pyrénées-Méditerranée Region, University of Montpellier, Montpellier University Hospital Center, French Tech Méditerranée, and Digital 113.
The new association seeks to unite local stakeholders around AI as a means of pooling their strengths to develop ambitious projects and create a shared identity under a strong brand. The launch was attended by over 250 participants, as pointed out Manu Reynaud, deputy mayor of Montpellier, in charge of the city’s program to support a peaceful, breathable, and digital city.
“A thriving and well-rounded ecosystem”
The Montpellier Métropole area has a particularly thriving and well-rounded ecosystem, with many companies focusing on and using artificial intelligence. Numalis, which provides tools and is developing ISO standards to help facilitate the adoption of AI across the industry; Septeo, with its artificial intelligence laboratory; “Brain”, with its strategic positioning; Bondzai, and Emvista, as well as clicNwork, a Montpellier BIC-incubated startup, which was once again recognized in Mapping 2025, a list of French artificial intelligence startups compiled by France Digitale with the support of Sopra Steria Ventures; AI-Stroke, Breedge, which won the AI pitch competition during the Artificial Intelligence Tour de France organized by Medef and Numeum, Namirial (formerly Netheos), Odyss’IA, and In Astra, just to name a few.
This network is complemented by the dynamic boost provided by University of Montpellier, research laboratories, and the Montpellier Research Hospital (CHU) supported by the Occitanie Region and the City of Montpellier and Montpellier Métropole. Other contributors include the City of the Economy and the Professions of Tomorrow (Cité de l’Économie et des Métiers de Demain), Digital 113, French Tech Méditerranée, La Mêlée, Les Halles de l’IA, and others.
In fact, this is what makes Montpellier stand out as an advocate for secure AI in the service of citizens. A citizen assembly organized by the city of Montpellier and Montpellier Métropole from November 2023 to April 2024 had already expressed its support for AI that is both useful and protective of personal data. This approach was recognized in April 2024, when Montpellier Métropole was awarded the “Innovative Territory” label. Since that time, the city has taken another key step by creating a Metropolitan Committee for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology (CMIAN) in December 2024.
The first of its kind in France, this approach seeks to guarantee the ethical, transparent, and responsible use of new technologies, while maximizing their positive impact for citizens and the territory in general. Montpellier was awarded the “Free Digital Territory label (“Territoire Numérique Libre”), Excellence Level 4, for the initiative. Montpellier and Montpellier Métropole have now decided to train 1,000 employees in the use of ethical generative AI.
AI is one of the major issues of tomorrow, and one in which the area is cementing its position. Already well known for the excellence of its digital sector, the Montpellier metropolitan area also benefits from the diversity and power of its ecosystem. This is reflected in the local presence of the Adastra supercomputer, the most powerful in France in 2024. Based at the National Informatics Center for Higher Education (CINES), Adastra is ranked 20th among the most powerful supercomputers in the world
Its only rival is the ingenuity of local players in the sector. Pl@ntNet provides an exemplary illustration of this. Launched in 2011 in Montpellier, this citizen-driven science platform powered by AI uses machine and cooperative learning for recognition in the plant world.
Led by a consortium comprising INRIA, CIRAD, IRD, INRAE, CNRS, and Agropolis Fondation, Pl@ntNet is a resounding success. Since it was created, Pl@ntNet has collected one billion images of plants, reporting that, with over 25 million users worldwide, two million images are downloaded every day.
Pl@ntNet could not have emerged anywhere other than Montpellier.
“This project originated here because of the infrastructure, availability of the necessary data, and the dynamism of the local research community,” explains Joseph Salmon, a researcher in applied mathematics at INRIA
His opinion is very much shared by Julie Josse, winner of the 2024 INRIA - Academy of Sciences for Young Researchers award. Julie is a statistician and researcher at the INRIA - University of Montpellier unit. She is head of the team in charge of developing PreMeDICaL (Precision Medicine by Data Integration and Causal Learning), where the objective is to implement the next generation of automatic learning methods to extract knowledge from health data and improve patient care. “These examples show the strength and diversity of the players present in the Montpellier area,” says Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier.
Initiatives are thriving, such as DocSimulator, a platform that uses AI to enable medical students to prepare for objective structured clinical examinations through interactive and realistic simulations.
AI in healthcare is one of Montpellier’s major strengths. On February 19, the Montpellier University Hospital Center (CHU) presented, to an international panel, the AI Health Alliance project that it is implementing with Montpellier Métropole through MedVallée, CINES, University of Montpellier, INRIA, INSERM, and Numalis.
“What we are doing here is unique. We have expertise that covers all the relevant topics,” points out Anne Ferrer, General Manager of the Montpellier CHU, which created a partnership with Dell to investigate how AI is transforming health professions and the governance of hospital establishments.
“All public and private stakeholders are positioned to promote the visibility and accessibility of Montpellier’s expertise,” summarizes Michaël Delafosse, who adds:
“Montpellier will leverage AI to create value and jobs.”
