Signing ceremony and launch of the joint laboratory between BNP Paribas and Télécom Paris

On July 8, 2025, Télécom Paris and BNP Paribas formalized the launch of FinAI-LAB (Trustworthy AI for Financial and Large-Scale Applications), a collaborative research laboratory dedicated to artificial intelligence in complex environments.

This laboratory aims to accelerate the development of robust and responsible AI solutions to address industrial and practical challenges in the financial sector, particularly in highly regulated environments where reliability, transparency, and performance are essential. It is structured around four research areas and a cross-cutting stream dedicated to trustworthy AI.

The first focus area is online and continual learning. It aims to design adaptive AI models and systems capable of continuously learning from evolving data streams, particularly those originating from dynamic and heterogeneous sources. The goal is to ensure that systems adapt robustly and dynamically to the variability of environments and information flows. It is led by Albert Bifet (Télécom Paris) and Mariam Barry (BNP Paribas).

The second research area, focused on cybersecurity, draws on behavioral and graph-based approaches to detect subtle intrusions that are often invisible to traditional tools. It is led by Rida Khatoum (Télécom Paris) and Frédéric Legac (BNP Paribas) and focuses on the cybersecurity of AI models, including the aspects of trustworthy AI and risk management.

The third research area, focused on foundation models for large-scale financial data, aims to leverage foundational modeling technologies to design architectures tailored to global financial data. The goal is to identify the key technological building blocks needed to build a foundational model specifically for financial applications. It is led by François Roueff (Télécom Paris) and Laurent Carlier (BNP Paribas).

The fourth research area focuses on the detection of fraud and money laundering using AI, particularly to identify suspicious patterns that elude rule-based detection tools and to generate explainable alerts. This area is led by Yanlei Diao from École Polytechnique, as well as Joseph Gesnouin Maarek and Aude Rousseau from BNP Paribas.

The fifth research area, which cuts across all the others, focuses on trustworthy AI. How can powerful AI tools be deployed within the highly regulated environment of financial institutions, where accountability and trust are paramount? This area examines the interplay between the European AI Act and regulations governing financial services, as well as issues regarding explainability, fairness, and legal liability. It is led by Winston Maxwell and Thomas Le Goff from Télécom Paris, along with Martin Pailhes and Léa Déléris from BNP Paribas.

The fifth research area, which cuts across all the others, focuses on trustworthy AI. How can powerful AI tools be deployed within the highly regulated environment of financial institutions, where accountability and trust are paramount? This area examines the interplay between the European AI Act and regulations governing financial services, as well as issues regarding explainability, fairness, and legal liability. It is led by Winston Maxwell and Thomas Le Goff from Télécom Paris, along with Martin Pailhes and Léa Déliris from BNP Paribas.

In line with open science principles, the laboratory also aims to actively contribute to the open-source ecosystem by sharing technological building blocks and methodological frameworks for the benefit of the scientific and industrial communities.