DINUM (French government digital directorate)
France's Albert assistant for France Services advisers will not be rolled out as built
The French state's digital directorate built Albert, a generative AI assistant, and trialled it with advisers in 48 France Services centres. In January 2026 it said the tool would not be generalised in its current form after unions reported faults and wrong answers, and shifted to a Mistral-based assistant.
Key figures
Copied exactly from the sources. Copy any figure with its citation.
48
France Services centres where advisers trialled Albert1
10,000
Civil servants in the successor Assistant IA trial, running to June 20261
What it took
Cost, team size and timeline were not disclosed in the sources.
The problem
Advisers in France Services centres help citizens with everyday administrative tasks. They need quick, correct answers across many procedures. The French state wanted a generative AI assistant, built in-house and not dependent on foreign providers, to help them.
What they built
DINUM, the state's digital directorate, developed Albert. An adviser asks a question, Albert looks for the answer in a trusted document base, and it drafts a reply with links to its sources. Albert is also a shared platform, an interface through which different services connect to various AI models. The France Services government page describes it as a sovereign, open generative AI tool built by and for public servants. The sources we read do not name the model used in the trial.
How they did it
Volunteer advisers in 48 France Services centres tested the assistant, according to AFP and Presse-citron. A government page from early 2024 describes a beta test in more than 40 centres, built from feedback from about sixty volunteer advisers. DINUM presented it as a tool for civil servants, not citizens, and advisers remain responsible for the relationship with users. The administration hoped to scale it up in 2025 and extend it to other state services.
What went wrong
Several unions reported technical faults and errors in the answers. Some users said the replies were less useful than a plain web search. On 9 January 2026 DINUM said the tool would not be generalised in its current form.
Results
DINUM stressed that Albert as a whole is not ending. It said most of the experimental projects under the Albert name are now permanent. The Albert Conversation project evolved into Assistant IA, which includes Mistral models and was being trialled with 10,000 civil servants until June 2026. A review was due in summer 2026, including the cost of a wider rollout. DINUM is also working on a tool suited to France Services centres.
What to copy
If your assistant answers questions about rights or procedures, set an accuracy bar before scaling, and keep a reusable platform so one product's failure does not end the programme.
Lessons for your project
Pilot with front-line staff before a wide rollout. Albert's problems surfaced in 48 centres, before any national generalisation.
Treat answer accuracy as a go or no-go test for public services. Wrong answers on social rights or procedures can harm citizens directly.
Listen to staff and unions early. Reports of faults and wrong answers from users ended the plan to extend the tool.
Separate the platform from the product. DINUM kept the shared Albert platform, which lets teams connect to different models, while dropping the first assistant.
Plan the cost review. DINUM tied its 2026 review of the successor trial to a figure for the cost of rolling it out widely.
Caveats
- The model is listed as undisclosed. Only Presse-citron (February 2025) says Albert used Meta's Llama 3.1 and Mistral technology, with no primary source, and Llama 3.1 did not exist when the trial began. The government page names no model.
- The trial start date is not given. The government France Services page, first published 16 February 2024 and updated 29 November 2024, describes the trial as under way, so February 2024 is used as the latest date by which it was running.
- We did not find a DINUM statement on the January 2026 decision. The first-hand description of the trial is the France Services page; the decision and the figures come from AFP-based news reports.
- We have not seen the outcome of the summer 2026 review of the successor trial.
- The complaints about faults and wrong answers are attributed to unions, and the sources give no error rate.
- The sources do not give the cost of the France Services trial. DINUM called it a minimal share of its annual AI budget.
Sources
- Albert, l'outil d'IA générative, expérimenté à France Services ne sera pas généralisé
Weka (AFP) · 2026-01-12 · News · weka.fr
- Albert : l'IA de l'État français recalée, mais pas abandonnée
Génération NT · 2026-01-15 · News · generation-nt.com
- Albert : 3 choses à savoir sur cette IA de l'État qui ne plaît pas à tout le monde
Presse-citron · 2025-02-12 · News · presse-citron.net
- Expérimentation d'un modèle d'assistance aux conseillers France services basé sur l'intelligence artificielle
France services (French government) · 2024-02-16 · Company blog · france-services.gouv.fr
Summarized in our own words from the sources above. Spotted an error? See corrections.