Mistral AI Seeks $1 Billion in New Funding

French AI startup Mistral, creator of the Le Chat chatbot, is reportedly seeking another massive funding round. Bloomberg reports Mistral is in negotiations to raise up to $1 billion in equity, with Abu Dhabi's MGX fund among potential investors. They're also exploring hundreds of millions of euros in debt financing from French lenders like Bpifrance SACA.

This follows a successful Series B round in June 2024, bringing Mistral's total funding to $1.19 billion and a valuation of $6.51 billion. Mistral is a key player in the European AI scene, focusing on open-weight large language models (LLMs), and already collaborates with MGX and Nvidia on a European AI initiative. The new funding would significantly bolster Mistral's resources and accelerate its growth.