“Mistral AI Triples Valuation to $6 Billion Following $640 Million Funding Round”
“A recent report indicates that Mistral AI’s latest funding round comprises €468 million ($502 million) in equity and €132 million ($141 million) in debt. Major investors in Mistral’s Series B funding include existing backers General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Arthur Mensch, Mistral AI’s co-founder and CEO, expressed gratitude for the support received in this funding round.”
Devendra Chaplot, a researcher at Mistral AI, shares Mensch’s excitement for the funding, stating, “With a $640 million raise at a $6 billion+ valuation, Mistral AI has grown ~3x in valuation since December and ~25x in the last 12 months!”
Founded in April 2023 by Meta and Google’s DeepMind alumni, Mistral AI aims to develop foundational models to rival industry-leading ones like OpenAI’s GPT-4, Anthropic’s Claude 3, and Meta’s Llama 3. The company has released models such as Mistral 7B, Mistral 8x7B, and Mistral 8x22B under an open-source Apache 2.0 license, allowing unrestricted use and reproduction with proper attribution.
Mistral AI’s most advanced offerings, such as Mistral Large, are proprietary and intended for re-packaging as API-first products. Companies can access Mistral Large through an API, paying based on their usage. Additionally, the company offers a free chat assistant called Le Chat, while its first generative AI model for coding, Codestral, comes with a restrictive license.
In June 2023, Mistral AI secured €105 million ($113 million) from a founding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. This accomplishment was particularly remarkable as it occurred shortly after the company’s launch. Jean-Nöel Barrot, the former minister in charge of digital transition and telecommunications in France, congratulated Mistral AI on its achievement, stating, “Congratulations to the startup Mistral AI, which raises €105 million only one month after its creation: a record!”
AI Investment Continues to Thrive Despite Acknowledged Risks
Investor confidence in generative AI startups like Mistral AI is robust, with 67% planning increased AI investments in the next three years, per a McKinsey survey. This reflects recognition of AI’s transformative potential across sectors, sustaining investor interest in emerging AI technologies.
While businesses acknowledge the benefits of generative AI, they are also mindful of the associated risks, ranging from data privacy and bias to intellectual property infringement. Additionally, concerns include inaccurate output and the lack of explainability, highlighting the need for careful management of AI technologies.
According to KPMG experts, blockchain technology holds promise in addressing companies’ IP challenges and avoiding infringement. By leveraging blockchain’s secure and immutable nature, businesses can track and manage their IP securely, ensuring attribution and potential royalties for reused content while reducing the risk of misappropriation. For instance, storing IP as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with embedded smart contracts on a blockchain can specify terms of use for generative AI, preventing unauthorized use and ensuring proper credit or compensation. This approach enables companies to harness AI’s benefits while mitigating risks associated with IP protection and legal issues.
