{"id":138045,"date":"2026-07-03T04:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/138045\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T04:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:44:10","slug":"imagination-trumps-ai-bernard-arnault-believes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/138045\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagination Trumps AI, Bernard Arnault Believes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could artificial intelligence<\/a> eventually render obsolete scientific research by humans?<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Mo\u00ebt 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 \u00c9cole Polytechnique, France\u2019s top engineering school. \u201cWhile 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.<\/p>\n

More from WWD<\/p>\n

\u201cEinstein himself said, \u2018Imagination is more important than knowledge.\u2019 And that holds true today,\u201d Arnault said, speaking before a crowd that included French Prime Minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu and his sons Antoine, Alexandre and Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric.<\/p>\n

Government and military officials convened in a gilded reception room at Les Invalides, whose military history syncs up with \u00c9cole Polytechnique, which was militarized by Napoleon in 1804 and is still considered the only Grande \u00c9cole in France whose students play a role in national defense, and nurturing the country\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

Its president, mathematician Laura Chaubard, wore her military uniform for the event.<\/p>\n

Arnault graduated from the school in 1969, and lauded its \u201cpassion for excellence\u201d and its military character, in contrast to the public schools, which can be \u201ca bit chaotic\u2026.For me, this school stands tall and steadfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

The center, to be named the\u00a0Bernard Arnault<\/a>\u00a0Institute 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.<\/p>\n

Set to open at the university\u2019s 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\u2019s ongoing competitiveness on the international academic and technological stage.<\/p>\n

Arnault is funding the center via his family holding company Agache, as reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy to contribute to it today at a pivotal moment for our country,\u201d he said, recalling his years at Polytechnique with great affection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI likely inherited my love for science from my father, who was an engineer himself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He relished the school for its \u201cintellectual rigor\u201d \u2014 and focus on solving difficult problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, crucially, to simplify them,\u201d he said. \u201cThat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour passion for advancing various initiatives deserves recognition,\u201d Lecornu told the gathering, characterizing Arnault\u2019s donation as \u201ca testament to patriotism, something felt deep down, for the glory of the country, for science, and for the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnault\u2019s contribution is part of a 200 million euro fundraising program launched in 2024 to support the school\u2019s future development by the Fondation de l\u2019\u00c9cole Polytechnique, which is backed by 20 major French companies as well as school alumni.<\/p>\n

Best of WWD<\/p>\n

Sign up for WWD’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Could artificial intelligence eventually render obsolete scientific research by humans? \u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t think so,\u201d Bernard Arnault, chairman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[163],"tags":[552,762,9337,66459,66462,66460,19171,66461,4398],"class_list":["post-138045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bernard-arnault","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bernard-arnault","tag-chief-executive-officer","tag-ecole-polytechnique","tag-fundamental-sciences","tag-imagination-is-more-important-than-knowledge","tag-lvmh-moet-hennessy-louis-vuitton","tag-top-engineering-school","tag-wwd"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116854224591972381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}