French Star

• French AI startup ZML, backed by Turing Award winner Yann LeCun, has released ZML/LLMD, a free software tool designed to accelerate AI inference across various chips. • The software aims to reduce the operational costs of running AI models, positioning itself as a competitor to existing tools like vLLM and SGLang. • Led by a lean, well-funded team of 20 people in Paris, ZML is expanding its ambitions toward the co-design of silicon hardware.

• French startup Genesis AI, backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday. • The company is differentiating itself in the competitive AI robotics market by opting for a non-humanoid design. • This launch coincides with a broader surge in AI investment, following SpaceX's record $75 billion IPO and the introduction of new AI-linked exchange-traded funds.

Singer and actor has denied all charges after more than 20 women came forward with allegations going back to the 1990sThe French singer Patrick Bruel has been charged with rape and sexual assault in one of the biggest #MeToo cases in the French music industry.The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture, was placed under formal investigation over several cases that included alleged rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Continue reading...

Two new rape complaints have been filed against the 67-year-old singer and actor, who denies the claimsFrench singer and actor Patrick Bruel, facing sexual assault allegations from multiple women, was taken into police custody on Monday, as two new rape complaints were filed against him.The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture with multiple top-selling albums and more than 40 film appearances, is being questioned about 13 victims, the prosecutor’s office in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre said in a statement.Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading...

Singer and actor who has appeared in more than 40 films faces investigations in France and BelgiumThe French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, the subject of multiple rape allegations, protested his innocence on Sunday and said he would not step away from his work.The Paris prosecutor’s office announced earlier on Sunday that Bruel was the subject of at least four complaints of sexual assault in France, and that the cases would be investigated together.Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading...

Actor who worked with the great French auteurs in the 1970s and 80s and starred in Spielberg’s Catch Me if You Can died of Lewy body dementia, says familyThe French film star Nathalie Baye, who starred in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, has died at the age of 77, her family said on Saturday.Baye, a stalwart of French cinema, starred in about 80 films and took home the best actress César, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, four times, including three years running from 1981 to 1983. She died on Friday evening at her home in Paris from Lewy body dementia, her family told AFP. Continue reading...