Technology giant Microsoft on Monday announced a multi-year partnership with French startup rival Mistral AI, as the U.S. company seeks to gain further ground in the evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. is accelerating.
“The AI industry is undergoing a major transformation, driven by a growing focus on more efficient and cost-effective models. This is emblematic of a broader trend in technological advancement,” Microsoft said in a statement. .
“Leading the way is Mistral AI, an innovator and pioneer. Their commitment to fostering an open source community and achieving exceptional performance will help them develop reliable, scalable, and responsible AI solutions. “This is in line with Microsoft’s efforts to do so.”
The partnership will give Mistral AI access to AI infrastructure in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, to accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation large-scale language models (LLMs), according to a statement. .
“Azure’s cutting-edge AI infrastructure allows us to reach another milestone in our expansion and bring our innovative research and practical applications to new customers everywhere,” said Arthur Mensch, Mistral AI CEO. We are promoting it.”
The partnership focuses on three areas: Microsoft will support Mistral AI with its Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure, and the two companies will provide premium models of his Mistral AI to customers and collaborate on AI research and development.
Microsoft will take a minority stake in Mistral as part of the deal, the startup told Reuters without providing details.
Microsoft confirmed its investment in Mistral, but said it does not own any shares in the company. The tech giant is under regulatory scrutiny in Europe and the United States for its massive funding of OpenAI.
Mistral AI was founded last April, raised more than $400 million in October, and was valued at more than $2 billion by December.
The French company is also working with Amazon and Google to distribute its models. The company plans to make Mistral Large available on other cloud platforms in the coming months, a spokesperson said.
