Microsoft forged a multi-year partnership with Mistral AI to bring the French startup’s models to the Azure cloud – marking Microsoft’s second major AI alliance beyond OpenAI. The deal, included a minor equity stake: Microsoft invested €15 million (≈$16 million) in Mistral as part of the agreement.
This funding is structured as a convertible investment at Mistral’s prior valuation (~$2 billion), giving Microsoft under 1% ownership and preserving Mistral’s independence. Together, the companies will offer Mistral’s AI models on Azure’s platform, making Mistral only the second firm (after OpenAI) with a commercial LLM available through Microsoft’s cloud.
The integration means Azure customers – including those needing data to stay in Europe – can access Mistral’s models as an alternative to OpenAI’s, alongside other options like Meta’s Llama family.
As part of the announcement, Mistral introduced “Mistral Large,” a new flagship model aimed at rivaling OpenAI’s GPT-4, and a ChatGPT-like assistant called “Le Chat.” Notably, unlike Mistral’s earlier open-source releases, the 36B-parameter Mistral Large is proprietary, available via API for paying customers. Mistral also rolled out its own Europe-based cloud infrastructure to host these services.
The Microsoft tie-up provides a powerful distribution channel and validation for Mistral: “Mistral’s open and commercial models will be on Azure, giving Microsoft’s clients another option next to GPT-4,” The Verge observed.
The timing was also significant – Microsoft’s move came just after OpenAI’s leadership turmoil in late 2023, highlighting Microsoft’s interest in diversifying its AI bets.
Regulators took note as well: EU authorities said they would analyze the Mistral investment as part of broader scrutiny of big tech’s influence in AI.
For Mistral, the partnership brings global reach and resources, accelerating its push to compete with US AI giants while maintaining that “the company remains fully under the founders’ control”.
