French AI startup Mistral is in talks to secure up to $1 billion in equity funding, with Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund among potential investors, as reported by Bloomberg. The company is also seeking hundreds of millions of euros in debt from French lenders.
Mistral, known for its Le Chat chatbot and focus on open-weight large language models (LLMs), has already raised $1.19 billion to date. The company’s post-money valuation stood at $6.51 billion as of its June 2024 Series B round. Mistral is collaborating with MGX, a government-backed $100 billion AI fund, and Nvidia to develop Europe’s largest AI data center campus. This partnership is part of the UAE’s €50 billion commitment to French AI projects, which supports President Emmanuel Macron’s AI sovereignty initiative.
The funding discussions come as Mistral continues to make significant strides in the AI landscape. The company’s focus on open-weight LLMs and its chatbot, Le Chat, have positioned it as a key player in the industry. With the potential investment from MGX and other lenders, Mistral is poised to further its goals and contribute to the development of Europe’s AI capabilities.
