Mistral boss calls for European unity in AI race, as pledges €1.2bn Swedish data centre investment
Mistral AI, a prominent French AI startup, has announced a substantial €1.2 billion investment to establish its first data centers outside France, located in Sweden. This move underscores the company's commitment to expanding its European footprint and highlights a call for greater European unity in the global artificial intelligence race. CEO Arthur Mensch emphasized the need to view AI development at a community level and to consider Europe as a unified market to effectively compete with larger international players. The new Swedish data centers will be built in partnership with EcoDataCenter, focusing on a significant 23 MW power facility designed to support numerous enterprises. This investment leverages Sweden's access to clean, low-carbon energy, a critical factor for Mistral AI due to its emphasis on sustainability. This strategic infrastructure expansion is crucial for scaling AI capabilities and addressing the growing enterprise demand that has fueled Mistral's 20-fold growth over the past year, contributing to its valuation of approximately €11.7 billion. This development positions Europe to foster indigenous AI innovation and digital sovereignty, encouraging European enterprises to adopt homegrown technologies. Sweden's deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch, highlighted Europe's advantage in "political stability" compared to other global tech hubs, asserting that this stability attracts crucial investment. The focus is shifting towards building trusted AI systems, rather than solely on the size of AI models, which could become a key differentiator for European technological offerings.
Curated and translated by Europe Digital for our multilingual European audience.
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