Considering AI Diversity in Paris, 2025 (Part 2)

Hello, I'm Kana Nakano from Dentsu Lab Tokyo. As part of the lab's R&D activities, I visited "Viva Technology 2025," Europe's largest tech event, held in Paris, France from June 11 to 14, 2025. This middle part focuses on the startup exhibits at the main VivaTech venue.

※Part 1 is here

 

AI Blending into Daily Life

One of the venue's highlights was the "AI AVENUE" area. This was a small path laid out diagonally across the venue, extending from the general entrance to the far end. Six notable AI-related companies selected by the organizers lined up here.

 
The largest crowd gathered around Unitree Robotics (宇樹科技), showcasing their bipedal robot, the Unitree G1. Founded in 2016, the company recently gained attention for videos showing group performances involving humans. Priced starting at $16,000, the robot is said to be applicable in entertainment, manufacturing, and elderly care. In Japan, Honda's ASIMO, unveiled in 2000, played a pioneering role as a bipedal robot, but development ended several years ago, and it retired from its duties at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) in 2022.

Ashirase, a startup originating from Honda, was also featured at "AI AVENUE." It offers a navigation system for the visually impaired utilizing autonomous driving technology. After setting a destination via smartphone, it suggests an easy-to-walk route. A device placed inside the wearer's shoe vibrates to indicate the direction and timing of turns. The app also reportedly supports AI image recognition that reads aloud signs and menus.

  
Spreading cheerful smiles was the home health management robot from French startup Bodyo. Resembling a small TV, it houses a blood pressure monitor behind its screen. Users insert their arm to measure blood pressure. Combining vital data from stored thermometers and ECG monitors in its side pocket, it offers advice for preventing illness, videos of exercises and healthy recipes, and connects to medical institutions for online consultations.

Other exhibits included an app that identifies counterfeit goods from product tag images, a modular EV vehicle that reduces CO2 emissions and traffic volume by optimizing demand and sharing, and diagnostic AI for early detection of mood disorders. The display showcased how AI will be utilized in various aspects of future life, such as shopping, transportation, and health.

The Power of AI Supporting Society

The "Tech for Change" Award, launched this year, was created based on the belief that in today's society, where technology's impact on life, work, and democracy is expanding, it is necessary to ask not only "what can be done" with technology, but also "what should be done." It targets exhibiting startups and evaluates them based on three criteria: whether they have a positive impact on the environment and society, whether they demonstrate innovation, and whether they possess scalability. From over 500 applications, more than 325 companies were officially certified as "Tech for Change" and displayed the certification mark at the venue.

 
The Grand Prix winner, Genesis, is a Paris-based startup specializing in solutions focused on the health of "soil," which underpins over 50% of the world's Gross National Product (GNP). It has developed an AI platform that integrates field data from sampling with satellite imagery to assess soil health. This platform helps companies build sustainable supply chains and manage regenerative agriculture programs. It is already partnering with diverse companies in textiles, cosmetics, food, solar panels, and more, operating in over 20 countries worldwide. Genesis was also selected as one of LVMH's 15 Tech Partners, supporting Moët Hennessy's vineyard cultivation.

There was also an example using AI for early detection of increasingly frequent forest fires. This solution, Fire Tracking in New Caledonia, analyzes footage from 40x optical zoom cameras installed at high elevations, such as communication towers and water supply points. It can detect fires within 3 minutes from up to 20km away, with a false alarm rate kept below 10%. During a fire, it provides spread simulations and information on water supply points and roads to support firefighting efforts. Sold to fire departments and local governments, it contributes not only to protecting human livelihoods like agriculture and housing but also to safeguarding valuable ecosystems.

Major telecom company Orange is partnering with OpenAI and Meta to develop AI models supporting African regional languages. Starting with Wolof and Pulaar, spoken in West African countries like Senegal, Guinea, and Mauritania, they aim to eventually cover all 18 countries where they operate. While primarily intended for customer support, it will be provided free as open source for non-profit purposes like education and public health. I feel this is a positive initiative to address the bias inherent in Large Language Models (LLMs), which have traditionally been developed based on written languages centered on Western Europe, and to help bridge the digital divide.

It made me realize that AI is beginning to support society not only in fields like factory automation and autonomous driving, but also in areas traditionally considered distant from technology, such as agriculture, ecosystem conservation, and even communication.