French parliamentary report proposes generative AI in middle school and a mandatory contribution from AI vendors

On July 1, 2026, the Assembly's committee on cultural affairs and education authorized publication of an information report (No. 2993) on how artificial intelligence is transforming education and culture, led by rapporteur Céline Calvez under committee chair Roger Chudeau. The report contains 26 recommendations split across culture/creation, copyright, and education. On education, it proposes allowing supervised pedagogical use of generative AI starting in grade 6 instead of the current grade 4 threshold, with basic AI awareness introduced even earlier in primary school without direct tool use; it also calls for protected 'AI-free' teaching time, similar to teaching math without calculators, to preserve cognitive effort, and warns of risks like reduced engagement, screen overexposure, and cultural bias from foreign-made models. It recommends mandatory continuous AI training and periodic certification for teachers, plus a publicly procured 'AI schoolbag' of certified sovereign tools for schools. On culture and copyright, the report's most notable financial proposal is studying a mandatory flat-rate, non-tax contribution charged to all AI providers—general-purpose and specialized alike—based on revenue generated in France, to be overseen by regulator Arcom, with proceeds directed toward compensating creators rather than funding schools; the report does not set rates, thresholds, or totals, leaving these to future legislation and decree, but suggests reduced contributions for companies with existing licensing deals with rights holders, an EU-wide creator opt-out registry, and mandatory filters against fully synthetic content on platforms. The report builds on the stalled Darcos bill on AI and copyright, passed by the Senate in April 2026 but not yet examined by the Assembly, and is intended as a complementary track for the ongoing national and European debate over value-sharing with the cultural sector. As an information report rather than law, none of its measures are yet binding; the education threshold change would require a decision by the Ministry of National Education, and no contribution amount has been made public.