French startup Mistral AI, backed by Nvidia, on Thursday, February 6, rolled out a new app for its generative artificial intelligence software.
It is worth noting that the debut of the mentioned digital product took place shortly after the global technology sector was shocked last month by the success of the AI assistant developed by the Chinese brand DeepSeek. The brainchild of developers from an Asian country has actually challenged the dominance of the United States in the world’s artificial intelligence industry. Moreover, DeepSeek spent less than $6 million on building its digital product, which is the minimum amount in terms of corresponding statistical averages in the area of machine intelligence. Against this background, doubts began to circulate about the necessity and expediency of huge investments in the artificial intelligence industry.
Mistral AI, based in Paris, claims that its open-source Le Chat assistant is powered by the world’s fastest inference engines, responding with up to 1,000 words per second. As noted by the media, the launch of this virtual product is taking place at a time when alternatives to OpenAI’s ChatGPT are being actively discussed. It was the debut of ChatGPT in 2022 that became a kind of initial stage of the so-called artificial intelligence boom, which has since continued to be on a trajectory of intensive scaling and consistent evolution. Mistral AI also presented its new product in advance of the digital intelligence summit in Paris.
The mentioned startup’s chief executive officer and co-founder Arthur Mensch, during a conversation with media representatives, said that the French and the whole world are realizing that European players count and that they provide cutting-edge technology.
Mistral AI, founded in April 2023, is reportedly valued at 5.8 billion euros ($6.01 billion) and has financial backing from Nvidia. The mentioned company is a global leader in the area of developing chips necessary for training and ensuring the subsequent operation of artificial intelligence systems. Last year, Nvidia’s market capitalization crossed the historical mark of $3 trillion. This company is one of the main beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom.
It is also worth noting that French President Emmanuel Macron often mentions Mistral AI. The startup is an advanced player in the European segment of the global artificial intelligence industry.
Arthur Mensch stated that despite early Mistral AI’s success, it has been overshadowed by the popularity of ChatGPT, which had 200 million weekly active users, as reported by OpenAI in August, compared with several million subscribers regularly using Le Chat. The head of the startup also stated that he knows DeepSeek well and was not surprised by its latest innovation. Moreover, Arthur Mensch stated that the Chinese brand had benefited from technology shared by Mistral AI via open source in 2023.
The new chat assistant from the startup, led by Arthur Mensch, is the mainstream version of the product, which is also offered to businesses.
As we have reported earlier, Google Opens Its Most Powerful AI Models to Everyone.
