There is one French AI company that is trying to solve some of ChatGPT’s fatal flows. Here’s how.
There is a new player in the AI landscape, and for once it does not come from Silicon Valley. It’s Mistral AI, a French Large Language Model (LLM) with all the capabilities to rival OpenAI’s GTP-4, and with some competitive traits as well.
For a company called OpenAI, its flagship software is anything but open. ChatGPT is a closed model, giving no access to outside developers. Mistral AI wants to change this, offering completely open-source software.
Artificial Intelligence is, as business school students would say, in its start-up phase. Many “small”, unprofitable companies emerge, testing the market for possible growth. While most of the digital revolution started in Silicon Valley, many European firms are unwilling to lose this opportunity.
Another open-source LLM was founded by the Finnish firm Silo AI and is even more open-source than Mistral AI.
But among all European firms, Mistral AI has by far the longest legs. On Monday, Microsoft announced a new partnership with Mistral, allowing the French company to use Azure Cloud as a platform for their LLM. Microsoft, which owns OpenAI, also acquired a small stake in Mistral.
According to Microsoft’s statement, the partnership “will explore collaboration around training purpose-specific models for select customers, including European public sector workloads.”
The advantages of Mistral AI
Other than being open-source, Mistral AI presents a crucial advantage compared to ChatGPT: its size. According to The Economist, the parameters of Mistral AI count in the billions, compared to over a trillion for ChatGPT.
This allows the French LLM to be much lighter, performing at the same level as ChatGPT without needing an entire data center to function. While this may change with the announced GPT-5 model, Mistral AI has so far the capabilities of competing with Sam Altman’s company.
Mistral AI attracted funding from tech pioneers and entrepreneurs including Eric Schmidt and Andreessen Horowitz. The company is valued at over $2 billion, which may increase following Microsoft’s investment.
Moreover, Mistral AI’s co-founder Cédric O is the former French Digital Minister, granting him access to the chambers of power in France and Europe. According to The Economist, he is a phone call away from French President Emmanuel Macron and already swayed EU legislation on AI in his favor.
The European Union seriously lacks competitive start-ups. Technologically, the bloc has been lagging behind the US and China for decades. It’s not too late, however, to hope the EU will have a spot in the AI revolution.
