An initiative included in the agency’s work plan

The agency is enhancing its efficiency and impact in public health by leveraging the opportunities offered by digital technology, including the use of artificial intelligence to strengthen its missions. Since late 2024, Santé publique France has been committed to this initiative by identifying concrete use cases across its entire scope of activities. The agency has chosen to test the tool offered by Mistral AI, a pioneering French startup in artificial intelligence. Based on needs identified across its various departments, the agency is testing the tool to support its public health surveillance and information missions. Several trials are currently underway in the fields of epidemiological surveillance and health investigations to improve efficiency in the collection and processing of certain data, as well as in leveraging the resulting findings for decision-making purposes.

"As part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening innovation, the agency has formed a strategic partnership with Mistral AI. This partnership allows us to experiment with integrating artificial intelligence to support our core missions. At the same time, following this same logic, we have launched an Innovation Lab to identify and develop innovative activities, particularly in epidemiological surveillance and in the design and evaluation of prevention and health promotion interventions. This is an important step for the agency and for addressing current and future health challenges."

Dr. Caroline Semaille, Director General – Santé publique France

Strengthening our public health data analysis and management capabilities

Adopting the solution offered by Mistral AI contributes to the modernization of our technological infrastructure and demonstrates our commitment to using the most advanced technologies to improve decision support and protect the health of all citizens.

"As a data scientist, Mistral AI’s AI saves us valuable time by accelerating the development of our analytical programs, while meeting our requirements for rigor and security. Much more than a simple tool, the Mistral AI platform acts as a true exploration partner, enriching and strengthening our expertise."

Johnny PLATON, data scientist at the DATA Division, Santé publique France

Use in compliance with regulations and respect for data confidentiality

Beyond performance, the use of Mistral AI’s Chat is part of a responsible approach: all experiments and uses are conducted within a secure framework, ensuring the confidentiality of information. The use of sensitive data is currently excluded from this tool.

Furthermore, within the Information Systems Directorate, work is underway to equip the agency with its own high-performance computing infrastructure. This initiative aims to ensure local and sovereign hosting of artificial intelligence models, guaranteeing security, confidentiality, and control over the processing of sensitive public health data.