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We were at Capitole du Libre this weekend!
A lot of meetings, ideas shared, and especially a community. A community we love deeply, one that gives us strength every time we encounter it. Because doing free/open work has never been an easy path. Remembering that many of us believe in it, find meaning in it, and keep innovating despite everything… feels good.
We were present not only as sponsors but also as speakers, thanks to Julie Hunter and Benjamin Bellamy, who delivered an essential talk:
“What if AI were no longer a black‑box out of control? Regaining control over artificial intelligence.”
A topic that moves us profoundly.
They returned to LUCIE, our free AI, the one that articles have mocked… and yet.
To quote their intervention:
“LUCIE illustrates the paradox of Freedom applied to AI: we opened the first 7‑billion‑parameter foundation model that is completely free and French‑speaking as a GitHub repo without a README, forgetting that the general public was expecting ChatGPT, not a raw tool that requires understanding of its limits.”
In response to the question raised by their conference, we have a clear answer:
LUCIE brings light into AI’s black box.
Because a true free AI must be:
- transparent
- modifiable
- auditable
- a guarantor of technological independence
They reminded us: an LLM has neither intention nor understanding. It predicts. It generates. It imitates. And, above all, it inherits human biases. AI is not neutral. It is political.
Yes, LUCIE is a small model, and that brings both constraints and strengths. (For instance, a compact model 7 B parameters produces 250 times less carbon footprint than the industry giants.)
To go beyond these limits, we are already building the next step:
combining it with OpenRAG, querying reliable data, increasing precision, and strengthening trust. Merging the best of both worlds for a truly mastered AI.
Thanks to our collaborators for managing, in a few minutes, to convey the essence of our commitments. Thank you to our Toulouse teams, ever present, especially Bertrand Escudie. Thank you to the organizers of Capitole du Libre for this wonderful edition.
