“Go download Le Chat developed by Mistral, not ChatGPT of OpenAI!” declared French President Emmanuel Macron in a television interview ahead of the Paris AI Action Summit in February 2025.
It isn’t the first time French government official have endorsed tech products, but it reflects Europe’s urgent desire not to be left behind by the U.S. in the AI race. Mistral AI, a French startup founded in 2023, is emerging as Europe’s brightest new star in artificial intelligence.
On September 7th, sources with knowledge of the matter informed Reuters that ASML—the critical supplier of advanced chip manufacturing equipment—is set to become the largest shareholder in Mistral AI, a French artificial intelligence startup. This strategic move is intended to bolster Europe’s technological sovereignty.
Three Giants Join Forces: AI Hope of Europe with Ties to Major U.S. Firms
Three co-founders of Mistral boast a pedigree tied to American tech powerhouses—each cut their teeth at the Paris research arms of U.S. giants. CEO Arthur Mensch previously held a role at Google DeepMind, while CTO Timothée Lacroix and Chief Scientist Guillaume Lample both come from Meta.
Its mission—“putting cutting-edge AI in everyone’s hands”—distinctly contrasts with OpenAI’s relatively closed strategy, highlighting its commitment to open-source accessibility.
Le Chat on the Rise: The Mobile Assistant with Over 1 Million Downloads
In 2025, Mistral rolled out Le Chat—a direct ChatGPT competitor tailored for iOS and Android mobile devices. The mobile version achieved 1 million downloads within two weeks of its release and even topped France’s iOS App Store Free Downloads Chart, becoming the latest trend of AI assistant.
Functionally, Le Chat stands out with a robust feature set: it supports multilingual reasoning and advanced image editing, and in September 2025, it added a key “Memory” feature that lets it recall prior conversations for more coherent, context-aware interactions. Beyond that, its “Deep Research” mode and “Project management” tool empower users to organize chats, documents, and ideas into dedicated focus spaces—streamlining how people work, brainstorm, and stay organized.
Business Model: Balancing Open Source and Enterprise-Grade Services
While free tiers have become a common offering across many AI products, Mistral has carved out its monetization path around two core pillars: Le Chat Pro (priced at $14.99 per month) and enterprise-grade APIs. For business clients, it offers flexible pricing models—based on usage, or licensing agreements for access to its top-tier AI models.
Multiple sources indicate that Mistral’s revenue remains in the tens of millions of U.S. dollars.—a figure that still lags behind its lofty valuation. This disconnect between revenue and valuation is widely seen as a key driver behind the company’s push to secure a new round of funding.
Reports now suggest Mistral is in the final stages of closing a €2 billion investment deal. If finalized, the round would push its post-money valuation to $14 billion—more than doubling the $6 billion valuation it held back in June 2024.
Can Europe claw its way back in the global AI race? Mistral AI is increasingly emerging as the critical litmus test for whether this ambition can become a reality.
