In the broader landscape, competitors in the generative AI space include OpenAI, which raised $6.6 billion at a valuation of $157 billion, and Elon Musk's xAI, which secured $6 billion in December 2024.

The startup was established by former Meta and DeepMind employees with the goal of competing against US tech giants like OpenAI.

Founded in April 2023 by Arthur Mensch and two former Meta researchers, Mistral has rapidly gained traction in the competitive AI sector.

The startup has raised over 1 billion euros to date, positioning itself as a formidable competitor to industry giants like Meta, Google, and OpenAI.

In less than a year, Mistral achieved a valuation of approximately 5.8 billion euros following a successful 600 million euro Series B funding round.

Mensch acknowledged that while Mistral possesses substantial computing power, it still lags behind its competitors, making the development of AI models a capital-intensive endeavor.

Emphasizing the company's independence, Mensch stated that Mistral is not for sale and values its autonomy highly.

Mistral is committed to fostering European innovation, aiming to establish a significant AI presence in Europe.

Despite the typical funding needs of startups, Mistral currently has sufficient capital to support its ambitious growth plans.

The company's growth trajectory has been impressive, with increasing traction in both Europe and the US, prompting plans for an office in Singapore.

In mid-January 2025, Mistral signed an agreement with Agence France-Presse (AFP), allowing its conversational AI to utilize AFP's news feeds for user queries.

Mistral specializes in developing generative AI models that are comparable to those used in popular AI assistants like ChatGPT.