Could artificial intelligence eventually render obsolete scientific research by humans?
“Personally, I don’t think so,” Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, said Thursday morning at a signing ceremony for his 50 million euro donation to fund a new institute for mathematics and fundamental sciences at École Polytechnique, France’s top engineering school. “While artificial intelligence certainly drives the advancement of knowledge at an extraordinary speed, I believe it will never possess the imagination of an [Albert] Einstein. AI could never have written E = m c2.
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“Einstein himself said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ And that holds true today,” Arnault said, speaking before a crowd that included French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his sons Antoine, Alexandre and Frédéric.
Government and military officials convened in a gilded reception room at Les Invalides, whose military history syncs up with École Polytechnique, which was militarized by Napoleon in 1804 and is still considered the only Grande École in France whose students play a role in national defense, and nurturing the country’s interests.
Its president, mathematician Laura Chaubard, wore her military uniform for the event.
Arnault graduated from the school in 1969, and lauded its “passion for excellence” and its military character, in contrast to the public schools, which can be “a bit chaotic….For me, this school stands tall and steadfast.”
The center, to be named the Bernard Arnault Institute for Mathematics and Fundamental Sciences, is to host around 400 faculty researchers, Ph.D. students and postdoctoral fellows and will be a hub where mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists and students will work together on scientific and societal challenges, according to the school.
Set to open at the university’s Palaiseau campus south of Paris by 2030, the building will serve as a French center of excellence and a hub for international research collaboration, and is seen as key to ensuring France and the school’s ongoing competitiveness on the international academic and technological stage.
Arnault is funding the center via his family holding company Agache, as reported.
“I am happy to contribute to it today at a pivotal moment for our country,” he said, recalling his years at Polytechnique with great affection.
“I likely inherited my love for science from my father, who was an engineer himself,” he said.
He relished the school for its “intellectual rigor” — and focus on solving difficult problems.
“And, crucially, to simplify them,” he said. “That skill has stayed with me throughout my life as an entrepreneur. It is a technique that has always been valuable. Indeed, a number of graduates go on to pursue careers in industry. It is important to be able to simplify problems, especially when there are so many to resolve at once.”
“Your passion for advancing various initiatives deserves recognition,” Lecornu told the gathering, characterizing Arnault’s donation as “a testament to patriotism, something felt deep down, for the glory of the country, for science, and for the nation.”
Arnault’s contribution is part of a 200 million euro fundraising program launched in 2024 to support the school’s future development by the Fondation de l’École Polytechnique, which is backed by 20 major French companies as well as school alumni.
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