French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI recently announced plans to go public independently rather than be acquired, breaking previous rumors that Microsoft might acquire the company. Mistral AI was founded in April 2023 by a team of former engineers from Google DeepMind and Meta. It has developed rapidly in just over a year and received an investment of 15 million euros from Microsoft. Company CEO Artur Mensch said that Mistral AI currently has sufficient funds and does not require additional financing, and plans to enter the Asia-Pacific market, choosing Singapore as its first stop.
"We're not selling," Mistral CEO and co-founder Arthur Mensch said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. There had been rumors that Microsoft might acquire the company. Part of the reason is that Microsoft invested 15 million euros (about $15.6 million) in Mistral and established a partnership with it. Mensch added that Mistral does not need financing at this time because the company has sufficient capital.
Mistral was founded in April 2023. The founding team consists of former engineers from Google's deep learning division DeepMind and Meta. Mensch said the company has grown rapidly since its inception.
To further expand its market, Mistral plans to open offices in the Asia-Pacific region, starting with Singapore. Mistral provides an open source base model that helps customers customize and deploy it within their organization. Mensch believes that companies are "a little bit struggling" to realize the value of AI, and he expects full implementation of AI applications to take place over the next few decades.
Mistral AI's strategy of choosing to go public independently shows its confidence in its own technology and market prospects, and also injects new vitality into the development of the open source AI field. In the future, Mistral AI’s performance in the Asia-Pacific market is worth looking forward to.