Nvidia takes stakes in Doctolib and three French start-ups

Nvidia est une entreprise de semi-conducteurs, mais l’AFP présente cet investissement comme l’une des opérations par lesquelles elle élargit ses activités dans l’IA.

Être in the present is est for a singular subject and sont for a plural one. It describes nature, state or place (“is”, “is located”). If what follows (the attribute) is a noun, adjective or prepositional phrase, it is not a passive. If a past participle follows, it is a passive (est annoncé). Headlines and summaries often use the present to describe the current situation.

Selon l’AFP, Nvidia a annoncé le 13 octobre à Paris son entrée au capital de Doctolib et de trois start-up françaises d’IA.

The passé composé is the most common past tense, used for “did” and “has done” — actions completed in the past. It is formed with the auxiliary avoir (a / ont…) in the present + a past participle. Past participles of -er verbs end in -é (annoncer → annoncé); learn the irregular ones (faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu). In the negative, ne … pas wraps the auxiliary (n’a pas annoncé). In the news it reports facts that have already happened, such as “announced” or “voted”.

Selon l’AFP, Doctolib avait lancé en août un programme de recherche utilisant les données personnelles de ses 50 millions d’utilisateurs, ce qui a suscité des critiques, notamment de la Ligue des droits de l’Homme.

The imparfait describes states, background, habits and actions in progress in the past (il était, elle avait, ils pensaient). Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, and add -ais / -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient. If the passé composé gives “the event itself”, the imparfait paints “the situation at the time”.

Stanislas Niox-Château indique que l’argent servira à recruter et à développer des modèles d’IA propriétaires, notamment un assistant de santé pour les patients.

The futur simple means “will do” or “is planned to”. Add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive (participer → il participera). Watch the irregular stems: être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, pouvoir → pourr-, voir → verr-. In the news it is used for fixed plans and outlooks.

Les montants ne sont pas détaillés.

The passive means “is done” or “is being done”. It is formed with être + past participle, which agrees with the subject in gender and number (la mesure est adoptée / les mesures sont adoptées). The agent is introduced by par (or de). In the news it is common when the event, rather than the actor, is the focus (est prévu / est annoncé / est connu).

Qu’est-ce qui a été annoncé ?

The past passive means “was done”. Its form is present of avoir + été (past participle of être) + past participle. Été does not change, but the last participle agrees with the subject in gender and number (la loi a été votée / les textes ont été votés). It is frequent in news reporting results such as votes, decisions and announcements.

Les montants ne sont pas détaillés.

Normally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.

Selon l’AFP, Nvidia a annoncé le 13 octobre à Paris son entrée au capital de Doctolib et de trois start-up françaises d’IA.

Selon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.

Selon Jensen Huang, elle a investi au moins 8 milliards de dollars en Europe l’an dernier et prévoit 2 milliards de plus cette année.

Prévoir means “to plan, to expect”. Être prévu means “to be scheduled” and être envisagé means “to be under consideration”. In the news, read them separately from expressions that describe events that have already happened. They do not say that the event has already taken place.

L’annonce s’inscrit dans la tournée européenne de Jensen Huang, qui doit ensuite se rendre à Londres, Stockholm et Berlin.

Qui continues a description of the person or thing just mentioned (“the one that does…”). Because qui is itself the subject of the next verb, do not repeat the subject. The verb agrees with the noun qui refers to.

AFPによると、Nvidiaは13日、パリで、医療予約のDoctolibと、フランスのAIスタートアップ3社への出資を発表しました。

As in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.

ファン氏は、今回の出資は「欧州でAI革命を始める」ためのものだと述べました。

ため is used for both reason and purpose. “成立ではないため” is a reason and “運転手を守るため” a purpose. Decide from the whole sentence whether what precedes is a cause or a goal.

AFPによると、Doctolibは8月に、5000万人の利用者の個人データを使う研究プログラムを始め、人権団体などから批判を受けました。

“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.

AFPの記事（14日付）によると、Nvidiaは13日（火）にパリで開いたイベントで、医療予約サービスのDoctolibと、フランスのAIスタートアップ3社への出資を発表しました。

In “発表しました”, ました makes a verb polite past. The negative is “ませんでした”. Read the actual date together with the date and time in the text.

AFPはまた、Nvidiaが9月にHugging Faceを129億ドルで取得すると発表したことにも触れ、出資や買収を通じてAI関連の事業を広げる動きの一つとして伝えています。

と takes the content that is reported or explained. In “改定する方針だと報じました”, “改定する方針だ” is what the report said. Separating the content from who said it and how makes long sentences easier to read.

マクロン大統領はX（旧ツイッター）で、Nvidiaが独仏の「オープンな研究」の取り組みを支えることを歓迎しました。

“〜すること” treats an action or content like a noun. The particle after it (が・を・は…) shows its role in the sentence. “ことができる” is a fixed combination meaning “can”.