Total (TTE.US) teamed up with Mistral: 100 million euros bet on AI exploration, Europe's “sovereign AI” hits the core energy scenario

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Total Energy (TTE.US) will cooperate with French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI to use artificial intelligence to enhance its oil and gas exploration capabilities and extend the mining life of existing oil fields. The two sides said in a statement on Tuesday that they will develop a proprietary cutting-edge model based on decades of geoscience data, and plan to invest more than 100 million euros (about 115 million US dollars) in the cooperative project within three years.

Mistral positions itself as a “sovereign AI” alternative to mainland Europe, targeting major US competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The company focuses on integrating AI into existing business processes and has signed cooperation agreements with a number of large European companies in recent months, including BNP Paribas SA (BNP Paribas SA) and Stellantis NV.

The company operates in 20 countries, serves more than 125 corporate customers, including Airbus, ASML and HSBC, and is expected to exceed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue this year. Samsung's leading investment role continues the model where strategic investors in the semiconductor supply chain support Mistral. Previously, ASML had led the C round.

Patrick Puyane, Chairman and CEO of Total Energy, said that exploration and reservoir engineering are key areas where AI empowers traditional energy businesses and creates maximum value. While enhancing the competitiveness of the company's core business, it also helps strengthen the autonomy and technological resilience of the European digital ecosystem. Mistral co-founder and CEO Arthur Munche added that the collaboration fully demonstrated the prospects for the industrial application of the most advanced and customizable AI models in dealing with tough scientific and energy challenges.

This year, the importance of technological sovereignty received great attention. The US previously ordered Anthropic to suspend foreign nationals from accessing its cutting-edge Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, triggering warnings from US allies about the risks of overdependence on a few US service providers.

Earlier this month, Mistral completed 3 billion euro financing with a valuation of more than 21 billion euros, led by Samsung Electronics. The funds will be used to fund the development of AI models and the construction of computing power infrastructure.