Mistral AI Launches New AI App

By Florence Loeve
PARIS (Reuters) – Nvidia-backed French startup Mistral AI rolled out a new app for its generative AI software on Thursday, shortly after last month’s launch of a new AI assistant by China’s DeepSeek.

The little-known Chinese company made waves in global markets by demonstrating its capability to compete with U.S. giants in the field while offering lower prices.

Founded two years ago, Paris-based Mistral AI claims its open-source Le Chat assistant is powered by the world’s fastest inference engines, delivering responses of up to 1,000 words per second.

The launch comes at a strategic moment, focusing on alternatives to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, just days before Paris hosts an AI summit.

Mistral AI CEO and co-founder Arthur Mensch stated, “The French and the whole world are realizing that European players count and provide cutting-edge technology.”

With a reported valuation of 5.8 billion euros ($6.01 billion), Mistral AI has received financial backing from AI chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and is frequently mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Despite its early achievements, Mistral has been overshadowed by ChatGPT’s popularity, which had 200 million weekly active users compared to “several million subscribers” for Le Chat, according to Mensch.

Mensch, 32, indicated he was familiar with DeepSeek’s innovations and noted that they had previously benefited from technology that Mistral shared via open-source in 2023. He said, “DeepSeek is something we’ve been waiting for. We are a company that builds products on open-source solutions. So whenever there is new open-source technology, we benefit from it.”

Highlighting the need for a European alternative to Chinese and American solutions, Mensch expressed his goal of making AI “more open and accessible to everyone.”

He noted, “There is a cultural dimension to AI, and I think everyone is starting to realize this. It’s also about having European champions, and that’s why we created Mistral.”

The new chat assistant, which was previously available only on a web browser, is now also offered in a mainstream version for businesses.

Mistral AI announced that it has signed partnerships with several large companies, including a collaboration with French water and waste management group Veolia.

Earlier in the week, the company also revealed a partnership with the French jobs agency and has plans for more collaborations with other European authorities, according to Mensch.

However, this still constitutes a fraction of the partnerships secured by U.S. competitors, who are also set to benefit from President Donald Trump’s Stargate project.

Mensch stated that Mistral AI, which has raised more than 1 billion euros to date, is “very well-funded,” but commented that speculation about an IPO is “not a short-term ambition at all.”

($1 = 0.9651 euros)