Wikipedia (en)
Mistral AI, headquartered in Paris, France specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) products and focuses on open-weight large language models, (LLMs). Founded in April 2023 by former engineers from Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms, the company has gained prominence as an alternative to proprietary AI systems. Named after the mistral – a powerful, cold wind in southern France – the company emphasized openness and innovation in the AI field. Mistral AI positions itself as an alternative to proprietary models.
In October 2023, Mistral AI raised €385 million. By December 2023, it was valued at over $2 billion.
In June 2024, Mistral AI secured a €600 million ($645 million) founding round, elevating its valuation to €5.8 billion ($6.2 billion). Led by venture capital firm General Catalyst, this round resulted in additional contributions from existing investors. The funds aim to support the company's expansion.
Mistral AI has published three open-source models available as weights. Additionally, three more models – Small, Medium, and Large – are available via API only.
Based on valuation, the company is in fourth place in the global AI race and in first place outside the San Francisco Bay Area, ahead of several of its peers, such as Cohere, Hugging Face, Inflection, Perplexity and Together. Mistral AI aims to "democratize" AI by focusing on open-source innovation.