AI and sunshine were both in attendance at VivaTech 2025. As every year, the French and international tech ecosystem gathered at the Porte de Versailles, in Paris. For this 9th edition, organizers announced a total of 180,000 visitors — 15,000 more than last year. A new attendance record, further cementing VivaTech as a leading global tech event.

The show kicked off with a bang on Wednesday, featuring a highly anticipated keynote by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, held at the Dîme de Paris — the venue reserved by VivaTech organizers for major occasions. For 90 minutes, the Taiwanese-American executive held the spotlight. He used the moment to make a major announcement: a partnership with Mistral AI to create a cloud offering dedicated to AI. Named “Mistral Compute,” the platform — described as both sovereign and particularly powerful — will be equipped with 18,000 Blackwell superchips, which Huang enthusiastically praised throughout his speech.

Macron Returns to Familiar Ground

The announcement was applauded by Emmanuel Macron, who called the partnership between Nvidia and Mistral AI “historic.” The French President made his return to VivaTech after a two-year absence. In familiar territory, he took the time to meet entrepreneurs and figures of the French ecosystem while strolling through the exhibition before joining Jensen Huang and Mistral AI’s CEO, Arthur Mensch, on the Dîme de Paris stage. Mensch had already earned praise from Macron during the AI Action Summit back in February.

After thanking Huang for his trust, Macron delivered an impassioned tribute to the French tech ecosystem: “France loves its entrepreneurs because you create jobs and help make the world a better place. I want us to continue embracing this boldness and supporting our entrepreneurs — it’s good for the world, and good for our country.” The President then sat down for a 30-minute Q&A session with five founders — ÉlĂ©onore Crespo, ÉlĂ©na Poincet, Rachel Delacour, Thomas Clozel and Vincent Huguet — to answer their pressing questions. Topics ranged from the single European market to decarbonization, public procurement and talent retention.

This jam-packed opening day ended with a working dinner at the ÉlysĂ©e Palace. The theme: “Choose France and Europe for Tech.” Spearheaded by the tireless Maurice LĂ©vy, honorary chairman of Publicis and a “founding father” of VivaTech, the dinner brought together a crowd of entrepreneurs, investors, officials, and top French corporates. International tech leaders were also in attendance — including Jensen Huang, who delighted guests by comparing software engineering to winemaking.

Fidji Simo, the French Tech ‘Rockstar’ (Remotely)

After “Jensen Mania,” other global tech heavyweights took the stage at VivaTech, including Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo. Appearing via videoconference, the 39-year-old French executive — now fully at home in Silicon Valley — was eagerly awaited. Having started out at eBay and then spent over a decade at Meta, she now leads Instacart and is set to become Sam Altman’s right-hand at OpenAI this summer. “I truly believe this company will change every aspect of our lives,” she declared.

Another French figure under scrutiny this year was Laurent Sifre, amid internal turmoil at his company, H. Charles Kantor, CEO of the promising French AI startup, was ousted during VivaTech itself. He’s set to be replaced by Gautier Cloix, former France General Manager at Palantir. Since raising a massive $220 million funding round, H has remained shrouded in mystery, especially after three of its five co-founders exited the company in summer 2024. Sifre is the last remaining founder. At VivaTech, he focused solely on presenting the company’s fundraising approach and declined to comment to Maddyness on the firm’s recent upheaval.

AI Served Every Which Way

Beyond Nvidia, OpenAI, and H, this 2025 edition was almost entirely dominated by artificial intelligence. AI was on the menu in every possible form for four days — a potential case of overload, but a trend seen across nearly all major tech events over the past two years. The organizers once again dedicated a section called the “AI Avenue,” first introduced in 2024, to highlight cutting-edge AI startups.

There was, however, also “The Impact Bridge,” a 1,500 square-meter space designed by EDF to spotlight technology with positive societal or environmental impact. Serving as a bridge between the expo halls, this area featured startups selected for their potential to address major global challenges. But aside from that, almost everything else at the fair centered on AI — a reflection of the tech world’s obsession since ChatGPT’s debut in late 2022.

Among the 14,000 startups attending, most had AI as their core focus — including Argil, a French company aiming to become a leader in video avatars, which had already made a splash at MKIA in April. But the startup that drew the most attention was likely Habs, quickly dubbed the “French Neuralink” in reference to Elon Musk’s brain-implant company. Habs’ approach is non-invasive, relying on sensors placed on the forehead to interpret brain activity. Visitors could test the device while eating a macaron to measure their level of satisfaction. The “wow” effect was real.

A Truly Global Fair

While French startups were everywhere, this year’s event also featured a significantly larger international presence. Canada — the 2025 country of honor — made a strong impression with a massive pavilion showcasing a delegation of 170 companies. In total, VivaTech welcomed exhibitors from over 120 countries and around 50 national pavilions — a 20% increase from the 2024 edition.

Asia stood out with strong showings from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China, which is trying to reclaim its position in Europe. Chinese tech giant Huawei had a notable presence despite its recent difficulties in both Europe and the US. Chinese company Unitree’s humanoid robot — distributed in France by Innov8 Power — was a crowd favorite. Robotics clearly reached a new milestone this year and it showed in the event’s aisles.

The Gulf countries also made their mark, with high-profile booths from the UAE (Dubai) and Saudi Arabia. The Americans, of course, were present too. Alongside Nvidia — which held its GTC conference on the sidelines — Tesla used VivaTech to unveil its Cybercab robotaxi to a European audience for the first time.

Corporates Still Steal the Show

As always, VivaTech was a playground for large corporates. Mega-booths from the likes of LVMH, Orange, FDJ United and La Poste stood out. On Thursday, these same industry leaders gathered at the French Tech stand to celebrate a new milestone: one billion euros committed by ten major French groups (ADP, AXA, BPCE, CMA CGM, Capgemini, EDF, FDJ United, Orange, SNCF and Sopra Steria) to support French startups and scaleups between 2024 and 2026. This move is part of the “Je choisis la French Tech” initiative aimed at doubling public procurement and corporate purchasing from startups by 2027.

The celebration drew the attention of François Bayrou, who caused a stir in the aisles as he headed toward the French Tech stand. The Prime Minister initially misspoke, citing “100 million euros” before being corrected — just in time for a symbolic billion-euro check photo alongside Clara Chappaz (Minister Delegate for AI and Digital), Julie Huguet (head of Mission French Tech), and major corporate leaders like Orange CEO Christel Heydemann, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou, and FDJ CEO StĂ©phane Pallez.

VivaTech Is Also a Party

VivaTech also means side-events galore, with summer parties hosted by investment funds like Orange Ventures and Super Capital. While the traditional “Viva Street” night out on Rue Montorgueil was missing this year, reducing the usual crowd, it’s understandable — many VCs, who typically rent out the area’s bars, had a rough year.

In contrast, the official afterwork event hosted by VivaTech organizers at the Dîme de Paris was a resounding success. For this debut edition, French electronic duo The Blaze delivered an immersive one-hour show on Thursday night. We loved it! We would have gladly danced the night away... but not to worry, the “VivaTech Party” was just getting started at Station F. Co-organized with Anthropic, Scaleway, Leboncoin, Cathay Innovation and Sifted, the event offered attendees a chance to unwind after two intense days.

Wednesday and Thursday were, as always, the busiest days. Friday brought a slightly calmer pace before VivaTech opened to the general public on Saturday. That final day featured esports sessions with Team Vitality and Karmine Corp, and crypto chats with YouTuber Owen Simonin, aka “Hasheur.” It also happened to be Clara Chappaz’s birthday — a fitting end to her marathon week at the Porte de Versailles.

VivaTech 2025 is now a wrap — but the Parisian tech fair has already confirmed its return next year. And it’ll be a special one: VivaTech will celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Save the date: June 17–20, 2026!