Snowflake and Orange Business: Sovereign AI for France
Snowflake and Orange Business will collaborate to deliver a sovereign-by-design AI and data platform for France, combining Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud with Orange Business’s operational expertise on sovereign infrastructure like Bleu.
France’s digital sovereignty strategy prioritizes local operational control alongside data residency, aligning with standards such as ANSSI’s SecNumCloud qualification. To meet these requirements, organizations need a platform where advanced analytics and governance can be managed within national borders. Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud, paired with Orange Business’s operational capabilities, aims to provide a sovereign-by-design solution tailored for the French market.
The partnership will operate on sovereign infrastructure, including Bleu, ensuring data hosting and platform management remain within France under EU law. Orange Business will handle platform operations such as administration, monitoring, support, and incident response through European teams. Customer contracts will be established directly with Orange Business, with regulated data strictly confined to local boundaries.
Snowflake’s environment supports ANSSI’s SecNumCloud qualification pathway and aligns with SEAL operational frameworks. The platform leverages the open Apache Iceberg™ table format on S3-compatible storage, enabling data ownership and portability to mitigate risks such as provider lock-in or service disruptions.
Snowflake Cortex AI offers access to a range of self-hosted, open-source, and frontier models, including EU models, through a unified API. This design allows seamless switching between models without altering application code or data pipelines, ensuring organizations retain control over their AI strategy while complying with regulatory requirements.