French AI startup Mistral unveiled a new AI model on Tuesday, ending a gap of about five months between major releases, and said it outperforms many rival open-weight models.
The three-year-old company, widely viewed as Europe’s strongest AI challenger to US and Chinese competitors, has not released a new model since May. In August, it began offering third-party models to customers, starting with Beijing-based Z.ai‘s GLM 5.3.
“The model we’re actually announcing today is actually above the Chinese models on certain aspects, including cyber. So the narrative that Europe cannot compete is something that is not true,” CEO Artur Mensch said at a launch event in Abu Dhabi, without specifying which Chinese models or benchmarks he was referring to.
Mistral said Le Chonk, officially named Mistral Large 4, will be made publicly available on October 27.
Before the release, cybersecurity experts and government authorities will be given access to a version with fewer safety restrictions to test its capabilities, the company said.
Pierre Stock, Mistral’s vice president of science, told Reuters that the model ranks among the strongest open-weight, systems available.
Open-weight means users can download the model from platforms and run it on their own hardware. Many Chinese models are open-weight, while top US models tend to be closed and accessible only through their developers’ infrastructure.
SAFETY RISKS CONTAINED
Stock told Reuters the model had tried to go beyond its testing environment, but that this was expected and the company was able to prevent it.
OpenAI and Anthropic, whose most advanced models have demonstrated similar behaviour in testing, have restricted access to their most cyber-capable systems.
After executives at US AI companies warned last month that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity, Mensch dismissed such arguments as self-serving.
Mistral, which raised €3 billion ($3.4 billion) in its latest funding round, has positioned itself as a safer, European alternative.
‘CLOSING THE GAP’
Mistral said Large 4 is “closing the gap with frontier models” in areas including coding, finance, geospatial analysis, manufacturing and product design.
The company trained the model on its own infrastructure.
Stock said Mistral’s goal was to partner “very deeply” with backers including ASML and new-investor Samsung “across the entire value chain”.
He said Large 4 is capable of designing computer chips, but declined to comment on whether Mistral is currently working with Samsung on chip development.
Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat
Do Follow: The Mainstream LinkedIn | The Mainstream Facebook | The Mainstream Youtube | The Mainstream Twitter
About us:
The Mainstream is a premier platform delivering the latest updates and informed perspectives across the technology business and cyber landscape. Built on research-driven, thought leadership and original intellectual property, The Mainstream also curates summits & conferences that convene decision makers to explore how technology reshapes industries and leadership. With a growing presence in India and globally across the Middle East, Africa, ASEAN, the USA, the UK and Australia, The Mainstream carries a vision to bring the latest happenings and insights to 8.2 billion people and to place technology at the centre of conversation for leaders navigating the future.