Arthur Mensch, the co-founder and CEO of Mistral AI, is set to make his debut at the Nexus conference in Luxembourg in 2025. Nexus Luxembourg 2025, a conference focused on future technologies and strategic innovation, will be held on June 17th and 18th. The French startup has, within a few months, become a key player in open-source generative AI. Mensch will present his vision for a more sovereign, ethical, and accessible Artificial Intelligence.
Arthur Mensch, virtually unknown to the public two years ago, has become one of the most promising faces in European AI. After a stint at Google Deepmind, Mensch, a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, co-founded Mistral AI in 2023. The idea? Europe can – and must – offer a credible alternative to American AI giants.
With open, powerful, and free-to-use language models, Mistral has quickly broken the established rules. While others lock access to their technologies, Mensch and his colleagues advocate for transparent, reusable AI, at the service of collective innovation. A radical choice that has appealed to investors (a round of record fundraising) but also to many companies and governments looking for sovereign solutions.
His presence at the 2025 edition of Nexus Luxembourg is, therefore, more than just a signal: it is a reminder that the AI battle is not only fought in San Francisco or Beijing, but also here, in Europe, at the heart of institutions, financial markets… and minds. In a world seeking technological and ethical benchmarks, Mensch’s voice counts. In Luxembourg, it will resonate particularly strongly.
In less than two years, the startup has raised more than 1 billion euros (including 600 million in June 2024) and boasts a valuation in the billions. Mistral claims to be “the only European company offering what we offer on the global stage.” At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2025, Mensch insisted that “Mistral is not for sale,” affirming that the preferred route will be an eventual stock market listing.
In the meantime, Mistral is boosting its commercial development: Mensch indicates a threefold increase in its business volume in 100 days, particularly outside Europe and the United States. It is also opening offices abroad: in January 2025, it announced the opening of an office in Singapore to expand its presence in Asia, while stepping up its growth in the United States and Europe.
From the outset, Mensch has established open-source as a pillar of Mistral’s strategy. He sees it as an engine for collective innovation: at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March 2025, he explained that “the advantage of open-source is that different companies can build on each other.” In practice, Mistral makes its model weights and inference methods publicly available, while protecting certain industrial secrets.
As Mensch explained in an interview, “We share the weights, we share the inference, we share most of the methods… Obviously, we keep some manufacturing secrets.” This approach is intended to accelerate research (others’ models can be based on his work) while maintaining a competitive advantage. Mensch remains convinced that by combining openness and its own expertise, Mistral will be able to build more effective models: at the same congress in Barcelona, for example, he announced that its future versions would outperform recent research from competitor startups such as Deepseek.
Mistral’s Rise: Reshaping the AI Landscape
The rise of Mistral AI is no accident. It is driven by a team of visionaries who believe that Europe can play a leading role in the field of artificial intelligence. Arthur Mensch’s leadership has been instrumental in the company’s rapid growth and strategic decision-making. His conviction that openness and collaboration are the engines of AI progress is deeply ingrained in Mistral’s culture.
The company’s commitment to open source is not a symbolic gesture. Mistral actively makes its model weights and inference methods publicly available, empowering researchers, developers, and organizations of all kinds to build and innovate on top of them. By fostering this collaborative ecosystem, Mistral is accelerating the advancement of AI technology and opening up the possibilities of AI to a wider audience.
Mistral’s strategic vision extends beyond technological innovation. The company is keenly aware of the economic and societal implications of AI. By advocating for sovereign, ethical, and accessible AI, Mistral is committed to ensuring that the benefits of AI are distributed equitably and that AI is used in ways that align with European values and principles.
Strategic Partnerships and International Reach
Under Mensch’s leadership, Mistral has solidified its high-profile alliances. In early 2025, Mistral signed a content partnership with the AFP news agency to enrich the news briefings offered by its chatbot, "Le Chat." Commenting on the agreement, Mensch explained that improving the "accuracy" of Le Chat’s responses was a "key step in our technological deployment" and that the partnership provided "a unique multicultural, multilingual alternative for our customers."
Internationally, Mistral has forged closer ties with major technological players: in June 2025, it announced a strategic partnership with the Emirati group G42 to jointly develop a next-generation AI platform. "G42 is a partner that shares our commitment to making powerful and open AI accessible to all," said Mensch. "This alliance not only accelerates our development trajectory but also ensures that the benefits of AI can extend beyond traditional technology centers."
Mistral is also expanding its influence in the security and defense sectors. In February 2025, at the Paris Global AI Summit, the startup announced a collaboration with the European company Helsing to develop AI systems for defense applications. At the time, Mesnch said, "With the partnership with Helsing, Europe stands poised to take a significant step towards establishing its technological edge in AI. The versatile Mistral AI models are crucial for developing a new generation of defense systems, thereby guaranteeing Europe’s strategic advantage."
In the same spirit, Mistral signed an agreement in March 2025 with the Singapore Ministry of Defence (Mindef, DSTA, and DSO) to adapt its LLM for military programs, and at the end of May was contracted with HTX (Singapore Home Team Science and Technology Agency) and Microsoft for the development of LLM models dedicated to public safety. Emphasizing this regional commitment, Mensch said, "We are pleased to partner with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency to bring our expertise in LLM training and deployment to critical programs… This collaboration reflects our continuous investment and commitment to the Asia-Pacific region."
The Power of Open Source: Mistral’s Engine of Innovation
Mistral’s unwavering commitment to open source sets it apart from most companies in the AI space. While other companies often take a proprietary approach, guarding and controlling their technologies, Mistral embraces openness and collaboration. This philosophy is rooted in Mensch’s belief that open source is a powerful engine for collective innovation.
By making its model weights and inference methods publicly available, Mistral empowers researchers, developers, and organizations from all backgrounds to experiment, build, and innovate. This collaborative approach has several key advantages:
Accelerated Innovation: When everyone has access to and can build on top of each other’s work, the pace of innovation accelerates exponentially. Mistral’s open-source strategy enables researchers and developers to iterate and improve its models rapidly, driving progress in AI technology.
Democratization of AI: AI that is locked behind closed doors can exacerbate existing inequalities and limit innovation. Mistral’s open-source strategy helps to democratize AI, making its benefits accessible to a wider audience.
Building Trust and Transparency: Open-source models are more easily inspected and verified, which fosters trust and transparency. This transparency is crucial for ensuring that AI systems are used ethically and responsibly.
Encouraging Standardization: When many organizations are using and contributing to the same open-source models, it helps to establish standards and improve interoperability. This makes it easier for businesses to adopt and integrate AI technologies.
Guided by Ethical Principles
Mistral’s commitment to ethical AI is just as important as its technological innovation. As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in society, it is essential to ensure that it is used in ways that are ethical and responsible. Mistral recognizes this responsibility and has taken proactive steps to incorporate ethical principles into its AI development and deployment processes.
The company’s commitment to ethical AI is reflected in several key areas:
Fairness and Non-Discrimination: Mistral is committed to developing AI systems that are fair and do not perpetuate or exacerbate biases. The company takes proactive steps to identify and mitigate biases in its models and to ensure that they are fair and equitable to all individuals and groups.
Transparency and Explainability: Mistral strives to make its AI systems as transparent and explainable as possible. The company provides clear explanations of how its models work and enables people to understand the reasoning behind AI decisions.
Privacy and Data Security: Mistral prioritizes user privacy and data security. The company implements robust security measures to protect data from unauthorized access and complies with all applicable privacy regulations.
Human Oversight: Mistral believes that AI systems should operate under human oversight. The company ensures that humans are involved in critical decision-making processes and that AI is not used for purposes that could harm human well-being.
Leading a European AI Renaissance
The rise of Mistral AI is contributing to a renaissance in the European AI landscape. For too long, Europe has lagged behind the United States and China, which have both invested heavily in AI research and development. However, companies like Mistral are helping to close this gap and to establish Europe as a global leader in AI innovation.
Mistral’s success is a testament to the talent and potential that exists in Europe. The company has attracted a team of top researchers and engineers from around the world, and it is at the forefront of AI technology. By investing in research and development and by fostering a culture of innovation, Mistral is helping to transform the European economy and to create jobs for its citizens.
More importantly, Mistral is committed to building a more sovereign, ethical, and accessible AI ecosystem. The company’s commitment to open source and ethical principles is setting a new standard for the industry and inspiring other companies to follow suit. As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in society, Mistral’s leadership will be essential in ensuring that this technology is used in ways that benefit all of humanity.
Arthur Mensch’s appearance at Nexus Luxembourg 2025 is therefore an important opportunity to showcase Europe’s AI capabilities and to articulate a vision for the role of this technology in shaping our future. Mensch’s voice will resonate, inspiring innovation and promoting the responsible development of AI in Europe and beyond.