France’s AI Chatbot Lucie Pulled Offline Days After Launch
The state-funded chatbot faced widespread criticism for errors and bizarre responses, prompting developers to pause its rollout.
- Lucie, a French AI chatbot launched on January 23, was taken offline three days later following public backlash over its performance.
- Developed by Linagora with state funding under the France 2030 initiative, Lucie aimed to rival global AI models like ChatGPT while promoting European values and transparency.
- Users criticized Lucie for producing nonsensical answers, such as defining 'cow eggs' and miscalculating basic math problems, leading to ridicule on social media.
- Developers admitted to launching the chatbot prematurely without proper safeguards or optimization, calling it an incomplete research project.
- Plans to relaunch Lucie remain, with improvements expected before the international AI summit in Paris on February 10-11, 2025.
Le Point 
