Mistral AI, the French company behind AI assistant Le Chat and a growing range of powerful models, is quickly becoming one of Europe’s most talked-about tech startups. While its global market share remains small compared to giants like OpenAI, it’s seen by many as the continent’s best chance at competing in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence. That status was further confirmed when French President Emmanuel Macron publicly recommended Mistral’s chatbot over its American rival ChatGPT, just ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris.
A closer look at Mistral AI and its growing tech offerings
Founded in 2023, Mistral AI entered the scene with a clear goal: to make advanced AI widely accessible. Its slogan, “Put frontier AI in the hands of everyone,” captures its mission to promote openness and independence in the AI space. Although it doesn’t name OpenAI directly, the message is clear—it’s offering an alternative vision for how AI can be shared and used.
One of Mistral AI’s most recognisable offerings is its chatbot, Le Chat. The app has seen strong adoption since launching on iOS and Android, with over 1 million downloads in just two weeks. It shot to the top of the iOS free app chart in France, a sign of strong local support.
But Mistral’s ambitions don’t stop at chat apps. The company has rolled out several advanced AI models for various tasks. Mistral Large 2 replaced its first large model as the main language tool. In 2024, Mistral unveiled Pixtral Large, a model that understands both text and visuals. May 2025 brought the release of Mistral Medium 3, aimed at providing efficiency without losing performance—particularly useful for coding and STEM-related tasks.
Another key model, Devstral, is open and available under the Apache 2.0 licence, making it free even for commercial purposes. This contrasts with earlier tools like Codestral, which couldn’t be used for business. Mistral’s “Les Ministraux” family of models is designed for devices like phones, while Mistral Saba focuses on Arabic language use. In March 2025, Mistral added Mistral OCR to its portfolio—a tool that can convert any PDF into readable text, making it easier for AI to process.
Founders, funding, and business strategy
Mistral AI was founded by three experienced researchers: CEO Arthur Mensch, formerly of DeepMind; CTO Timothée Lacroix; and chief scientist Guillaume Lample, who came from Meta. Alongside them are key advisors like Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve and Charles Gorintin of health-tech firm Alan, as well as former digital minister Cédric O. His involvement caused some debate due to his previous government role, but he remains closely tied to the startup’s direction.
Although Mistral offers several free tools, the company also focuses on generating income. In February 2025, it launched a paid version of Le Chat, called the Pro plan, which costs US$14.99 monthly. On the business-to-business side, companies can pay to access Mistral’s best-performing models through API use or full licensing agreements. Despite its modest scale compared to US firms, Mistral AI’s revenue has already reached the eight-digit mark, according to reports.
Big-name partnerships and plans for the future
The company’s partnerships are helping it expand quickly. In 2024, Microsoft invested €15 million and agreed to distribute Mistral’s models through its Azure cloud platform. Though the deal was small enough to avoid an investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, it still sparked a conversation within the European Union about tech influence.
More recently, Mistral AI teamed up with Agence France-Presse (AFP), giving Le Chat access to AFP’s full-text archive from 1983 onwards. This makes the chatbot one of the few with access to such a large, trusted news database.
Other strategic partners include the French army, France’s job agency, major shipping firm CMA, German defence startup Helsing, IBM, telecom provider Orange, and carmaker Stellantis. In May 2025, the company revealed it would join a national initiative to create an AI Campus in the Paris area, marking another step in its efforts to shape the future of AI in France and across Europe.
Mistral AI may not yet be a global household name. Still, it’s quickly gaining ground with its fresh take on AI development, open model strategy, and support from both government and industry leaders. If you’re watching the AI space, it’s one company you’ll want to keep an eye on.
