Dassault Aviation and cortAIx partner to develop defence aeronautics AI

Dassault Aviation and Thales, through its cortAIx artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator, have entered into a strategic partnership for the development of controlled and supervised AI for defence aeronautics, the two companies announced on 25 November 2025.

The partnership was actually signed by Eric Trappier, chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, and Patrice Caine, chairman and CEO of Thales, on 18 November, but was announced at the Grand Palais in Paris during the International Adopt AI Summit organised under the patronage of the French President.

Under the partnership Dassault Aviation and cortAIx will team to develop sovereign AI solutions that cover the functions for both manned and unmanned aircraft, for observation, situation analysis, decision making, planning and control during military operations.

“This partnership is reflected in research and innovation programmes dedicated to the collaborative air combat of the future, with a view to incorporating AI into aeronautical defence systems,” Pascale Lohat, chief technical officer at Dassault Aviation, stated in a joint press release. “It is the culmination of strategic discussions launched by Dassault Aviation and Thales’ AI accelerator, cortAIx, and illustrates our shared commitment to trusted, sovereign and controlled artificial intelligence for the armed forces.”

Mickael Brossard, vice-president of cortAIx at Thales, added, “cortAIx will bring to this strategic partnership with Dassault Aviation the best of Thales’ technological heritage, enriched by decades of military experience, combined with the agility and dynamics of a powerful innovation accelerator. Present in France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and soon in the United Arab Emirates, cortAIx relies on recognised technological partners to transform AI advances into concrete levers of sovereignty and efficiency.”