Mistral unveils new AI model it says rivals best open systems from China

Mistral on Tuesday unveiled a new AI model it said ranked among the best open models in the world, as Western companies race to close the capability gap with Chinese developers in the market.

Mistral Large 4 (ML4), also known as le Chonk, is a 1-trillion-parameter model that is particularly effective at tasks related to cyber, coding, manufacturing, finance and multimodal, the French company said.

Long considered Europe's only answer to OpenAI and Anthropic, Mistral raised a 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) Series D in September at a 21 billion euro valuation. The round cemented the company's status as one of the best-funded and most valuable AI startups in the region.

Access to so-called open AI models — the most capable of which have been Chinese — has become a key flashpoint in the intensifying race for technological supremacy between the U.S. and China.

Open AI models can be modified and self-hosted, in contrast to leading closed systems produced by OpenAI and Anthropic. Chinese open models are increasingly being adopted around the world.

Mistral Large 4 is being launched in preview to developers and "cybersecurity leaders," alongside state authorities, before it is released more widely later this month, the company said.