Microsoft, Nvidia-Backed French AI Startup Is Coming For OpenAI And Google With Its Latest Launch

French startup Mistral launched a sweeping new suite of artificial intelligence (AI) models on Tuesday, pitching the open-weight lineup designed to run everywhere from smartphones to drones as its most ambitious challenge yet to deep-pocketed rivals OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek.

The 10-model release, deemed Mistral 3, includes a large frontier model with multimodal and multilingual capabilities and nine smaller offline-capable, fully customizable models.

AI Chatbot Race Heats Up

Mistral’s launch should help allay fears that Europe is falling behind the US and China in AI development. The Paris-based company has long touted itself as a more efficient alternative to U.S. rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

Open-weight models publish the numerical “weights” that power the system so users can run or customize them on their own hardware, a contrast to closed models like ChatGPT, that remain accessible only via controlled interfaces.

The release comes as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly declared a “code red” inside the company, telling staff it is a "critical time for ChatGPT" as the chatbot contends with mounting threats from Google’s newly released Gemini 3 and a wave of fast-advancing rivals.

See also: Amazon-Backed Anthropic Moves Closer To One Of The Largest Tech IPOs Ever, Taps Wilson Sonsini As It Sets Eyes On Over $300 Billion Valuation: Report

Europe’s AI Push Gives Mistral Strategic Lift

Europe has been stepping up efforts to build its own AI ecosystem, calling for greater “AI sovereignty” and backing homegrown tools to reduce reliance on U.S. and Chinese providers.

Last week, the European Union (EU) postponed key artificial intelligence and data privacy regulations until 2027.

Mistral has become the bloc’s most prominent contender: founded in 2023 by former Meta and DeepMind researchers. The startup raised 1.7 billion euros in its latest funding round, at a valuation of about 11.7 billion euros ($13.6 billion)— a small number compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars raised by OpenAI and Anthropic.

Mistral’s backers include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) to Dutch semiconductor firm ASML, and Andreessen Horowitz.

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