Mistral’s Secret Powerbroker Keeps Europe’s AI Hopes Alive
Arthur Mensch is the public face of French AI champion Mistral, but another startup’s CEO has been critical to its $6 billion valuation
Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve at Mistral’s headquarters in Paris.
Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg
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A year ago, Europe had multiple AI startups that could plausibly compete with OpenAI and Google. Now it has Mistral.
Well-financed artificial intelligence startups in Germany and the UK have sputtered or stopped making major models, leaving the French startup darling left to convince customers, investors and politicians that Europe can hold its own on the critical technology.