Live

Most Influential People in AI in France (2026 ranking)

Today's movement

Mensch keeps first place, 58 points ahead of LeCun. Chappaz posts the biggest 30-day gain, at +612.

Who are the most influential people in AI? As of Oct 25, 2026, the five most influential are Arthur Mensch, Yann LeCun, François Chollet, Clara Chappaz, and Julien Chaumond. The Favikon Index Top 100 AI France ranks AI founders, researchers and leaders every day by their online influence on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X and LinkedIn. Related rankings: Top 100 AI, Top 100 CEOs, and Top 200 B2B Creators.

Climbing · 30D

See who's surging ↓

Making people react · min. 5M views

See the map ↓

Falling · 30D

See who's surging ↓

Top 100 AI France: the full ranking

The ranking

AI founders, researchers and leaders, ranked by Favikon influence score.

#PersonFollowers ↓30D×
1=YLYann LeCun, AI pioneer, NYU professor, Turing AwardLeCunNYU1.5M+15.7K—
2=FCFrançois Chollet, Creator of Keras, co-founder Ndea and ARC PrizeCholletNdea752.4K+17.7K2.6×
3=AMArthur Mensch, Co-founder and CEO, Mistral AIMenschMistral AI367.7K+18.6K23.3×
4=JCJulien Chaumond, Co-founder and CTO, Hugging FaceChaumondHugging Face365.1K+6.8K1.2×
5=CDClem Delangue, Co-founder and CEO, Hugging FaceDelangueHugging Face350.7K+12.1K—
6=TWThomas Wolf, Co-founder Hugging FaceWolfHugging Face331.1K+4.3K1.0×
7=CCClara Chappaz, French ambassador for digital and AI, ex-ministerChappazFrench Gov187.6K+1100.8×
8=COCédric O, Co-founder and adviser, Mistral AI; ex-minister for digitalOMistral AI156.8K—0.5×
9=SBSébastien Bubeck, Research scientist, OpenAIBubeckOpenAI148.3K——
10=MLMaxime Labonne, Head of post-training, Liquid AILabonneLiquid AI120K—1.7×
11=GBGilles Babinet, Entrepreneur; Conseil national du numériqueBabinetCNNum106.7K−410.4×
12=RHRomain Huet, Head of developer experience, OpenAIHuetOpenAI99.1K+5.5K1.8×
13=AJAurélie Jean, Computational scientist, AI entrepreneurJeanIn Silico Veritas98.8K——
14=GLGuillaume Lample, Co-founder and chief scientist, Mistral AILampleMistral AI62.3K—4.9×
15=ALAnne Le Hénanff, French minister delegate for AI and digitalLe HénanffFrench Gov48.5K+2.2K1.7×
16=RHRand Hindi, Co-founder and CEO, ZamaHindiZama41.5K—2.4×
17=TCThomas Clozel, Co-founder and CEO, OwkinClozelOwkin38.5K+358—
18=JBJoëlle Barral, Senior director of research, Google DeepMindBarralGoogle DeepMind36.7K——
19=EGEtienne Grass, Global Chief AI Officer, large companyGrassIndependent24.2K+595—
20=GVGaël Varoquaux, Research director, Inria; co-creator scikit-learnVaroquauxInria22.6K——
21=ABAnne Bouverot, Chair, ENS board; ex-envoy, AI Action SummitBouverotENS20.1K——
22=LDLaurence Devillers, Professor, Sorbonne; AI and ethicsDevillersSorbonne9.6K——
23=JGJean-Gabriel Ganascia, Professor, Sorbonne; AI ethicsGanasciaSorbonne9.3K——
24=NZNeil Zeghidour, Co-founder and CEO, Gradium; ex-KyutaiZeghidourGradium7K——
25=PYPierre-Yves Oudeyer, Research director, InriaOudeyerInria6.8K——

Biggest climbers and fallers in AI this month

Who's surging, who's stalling

Followers counted on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads · % computed only for accounts with at least 20K followers, to filter out small accounts.

Leaders by platform in AI: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn

Who rules each platform

How the Top 100 AI France has changed over time

Replay the ranking

Head-to-head matchups in AI

The matchups

How the Favikon score works

The Favikon score measures online influence, not popularity or voting intention. Every day it combines four signals from the last 90 days: reach (average views per post), engagement (reactions, comments and shares per post), audience (followers) and consistency (how regularly an account posts). Each signal is compared with every account Favikon tracks on the same platform, then TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X and LinkedIn add up to one number. That is why someone strong on a single platform can be compared with someone present on all five. Read the full methodology →

Frequently asked questions

Who is the most influential person in AI?

Arthur Mensch is the most influential person in AI according to the Favikon Index Top 100 AI France, with a Favikon score of 9,241 points on Oct 25, 2026. Yann LeCun and François Chollet complete the top three. The ranking is recalculated every day.

How often is the Top 100 AI France updated?

The Favikon Index Top 100 AI France is updated every day. Tracked accounts are refreshed every six hours, and each Favikon score is recalculated daily from the posts of the last 90 days, so ranks and 30-day changes always reflect the latest data.

How is influence measured in the Top 100 AI France?

Influence in the Favikon Index Top 100 AI France is measured with the Favikon score, which combines reach (views per post), engagement (reactions per post), audience (followers) and posting consistency over the last 90 days. Each signal is compared with all accounts on the same platform. It is not a poll and not a follower count.

Which social media platforms are included?

The Favikon Index Top 100 AI France covers TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn, which all count toward the Favikon score. Facebook and Threads audiences are shown on profiles but are not part of the score. Platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, VK or Telegram are not covered.

Who is included in the Top 100 AI France?

AI founders, researchers, lab leaders and policy leaders: people whose job is to build, run or regulate, not to make content. France view: French people only. Personal accounts only. Company and lab accounts don't count.

Other rankings

Other rankings

Share

Share this ranking

favikon-index.com/en/france/ai