France

Is there a specific enacted legislation regulating AI in your jurisdiction?

Besides the EU AI Act, there is no specific national regulation of AI in France. 

Is there a proposed legislation regulating AI in your jurisdiction?

Besides the EU AI Act, there is no specific national regulation of AI in France. 

Are there any guidelines/ codes of conduct/ recommendations / reports / policies in connection with AI in your jurisdiction?

Yes. There are specific regulations by subject (data protection laws / IP laws) and by sector (health, military, cybersecurity).

Any additional relevant news regarding AI / or anticipated future changes (e.g. white papers, policy statements about AI regulation)?

Is AI specifically addressed in IP laws? Are there any guidelines / soft laws relating to AI? 

The AI and culture mission report was published in 2020 by the "Conseil supérieur de la propriété littéraire et artistique". 

There is a proposed legislation regulating AI through copyright law.

Articles of the French IP Code and Commercial Code, often used in the context of IP infringement in relation to AI:

Proposed law to Identify AI-Generated images on social media on December 2024, a Bill was submitted to the French National Assembly, proposing that social media users be required to explicitly label AI-generated or altered images.

Is AI specifically addressed in data protection laws? Are there any guidelines / soft laws relating to AI?

Who are the competent AI supervisory authorities in your jurisdiction? 

France has not yet designated the competent authority for the local supervision of the AI Act, pursuant to Article 70 of the AI Act.

However, for now, 3 local authorities in charge of the fundamental rights’ protection relating to high risks AI systems have been designated, pursuant to Article 77 of the AI Act: the "Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes" (DGCCRF), the CNIL and the "Défenseur des Droits".

The CNIL has repeatedly expressed its wish to be designated as the competent authority for the local supervision of the AI Act, pursuant to Article 70 of the AI Act,  i.e:
Joint statement on building trustworthy data governance frameworks to encourage development of innovative and privacy-protective AI

Are there any publicly known enforcement actions in relation to AI?

There has not been yet publicly known enforcement actions in France in relation to AI. 

However, there has been some complaints filed against:

  • OpenAI: Complaints filed with the CNIL, for alleged violations of the GDPR.
  • MistralAI: Complaint filed with the CNIL, for alleged violations of the GDPR.
  • Meta: Sued in France for alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted works to train AI.
  • Deepseek: No complaints in France yet, but the CNIL plans to analyze Deepseek's operations and request explanations on data protection risks.

Are there any other sector specific laws or guideline / soft laws (e.g. finance, healthcare etc.) where AI is specifically addressed?

*Information is accurate up to 30 April 2025