Paris-based startup Mistral AI, established just seven months ago by Meta and Google researchers, has successfully secured €385 million (approximately $415 million) in funding, indicating a growing fascination with a novel form of artificial intelligence that powers online chatbots.
This latest deal values the 22-person company at around $2 billion and sees participation from notable investors, including Silicon Valley venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Mistral specializes in developing technology for businesses to deploy chatbots, search engines, online tutors, and other A.I.-driven products, witnessing a remarkable sevenfold increase in valuation within a mere six months. In the summer, it garnered €105 million (about $113 million) in seed funding, valuing the company at approximately $260 million.
This places Mistral among a select group of companies, including industry giants and a few startups, actively contributing to the development of A.I. that could rival technology emerging from San Francisco's OpenAI, the catalyst for the A.I. boom following the launch of the ChatGPT chatbot last fall.
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