The French government is asking various ministries to cut the costs of their digital service providers, as revealed in a letter from David Amiel, the minister of Public Action and Public Accounts, seen by AFP and confirmed by Échos. The letter, dated August 31, highlights that the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in software development has led to increased productivity in the digital sector. Although these productivity improvements are currently benefiting the state’s service providers, Amiel argued that it would not be consistent for the government—actively pushing an ambitious AI dissemination policy—to ignore these gains. More than a dozen letters have been sent to all ministries to address various areas of state operations. Specific attention is being given to organizations under government oversight, including the Bank of France for the finance ministry (Bercy), the Social Security Funds for the ministries of Labor and Health, and the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) for the ministries of Higher Education and Research and the Armed Forces. The letter notes that the state’s spending in this area has more than doubled since 2019, rising from 339 million euros to over 720 million euros for the ministries alone, with an additional 2.6 billion euros allocated for the service providers. To better manage these costs and improve negotiation strategies with service providers, the State Procurement Directorate (DAE), working with the Interministerial Digital Directorate (Dinum), will propose a framework to standardize and strengthen the state’s position. Earlier this year, in mid-June, the government rolled out an AI-based conversational assistant for approximately one million public sector employees. This move was accompanied by an announcement from Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu about an additional investment of 655 million euros in AI development, signaling the government's continued commitment to leveraging AI in public administration.