True to the strong winds that inspired its name, French start-up Mistral AI took Davos by storm in 2024, having delivered a world-class artificial intelligence model with a fraction of the usual resources.
The Paris-based start-up, less than a year old, was on a high. It was freshly valued at $2bn and had the backing of AI chip leader Nvidia and prominent venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mistral’s founding trio of hotshot AI researchers — Guillaume Lample, Timothée Lacroix and chief executive Arthur Mensch — were hailed as the heroes who would finally put Europe at tech’s top table.
Mistral also had the enthusiastic support of French President Emmanuel Macron, who was drawn in by the start-up’s promise of “sovereign” and more “open” AI, proudly independent of US Big Tech.