Despite the excitement that artificial intelligence is causing in the market, some are skeptical of the "hype" surrounding this technology. Amidst the enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, which is increasingly taking over the business world, the European startup Mistral managed to collect a huge 105 million euros of investment, although it currently does not have a finished product, but only an expert team and a vision of its future product.
A European AI startup without a product
Indeed, we are experiencing a kind of mania for artificial intelligence, where investors do not hesitate to invest significant sums even in startups without a developed product. There is a new trend where promises of "the most innovative AI product ever" create such energy that they attract investments worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Mistral, a European AI startup, demonstrates this phenomenon, illustrating the current trend where the potential of AI and the promise of future innovation are becoming key for investors.
The idea that artificial intelligence can radically change the way we live and work is so convincing that investing in its future is gaining momentum.
Mistral not only attracted a lot of attention, but also managed to raise a record 105 million euros in its first round of financing, just one month after its founding, which is the largest figure ever recorded in Europe, according to Fortune.
Their success comes despite the fact that Mistral still doesn't have a finished product. But the investors recognized the potential in their vision of creating an advanced language model, similar to the technology that powers OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company, which is still in the recruitment phase, currently has a team of 12 people. And that is all.
However, Mistral has received backing from an impressive consortium of investors. They include former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, French billionaire Xavier Neill and French advertising mega-company JCDecaux. Mistral has also received backing from French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, which shows France's ambitions to position itself as a relevant player in the technology sector.
Mistral's founders, who previously worked at Facebook and Google DeepMind, have big plans. They want to make artificial intelligence the basis of the Internet and software of the future, with the goal of becoming the technological leader in the field of artificial intelligence.
Despite the excitement that artificial intelligence is causing in the market, some are skeptical of the "hype" surrounding this technology. However, Mistral's founders are determined to change the future, and investors seem to believe them.