The French AI startup Mistral AI plans to go public through an initial public offering (IPO) instead of pursuing an acquisition deal, its CEO Arthur Mensch said in an interview at the World Economic Forum, Business Insider reported.

Mensch added that Mistral AI will open an office in Singapore and double its growth in the United States and Europe.

"We are the only European company that is providing what we provide," Mensch said, adding that being based in Europe brought a "lot of strengths," such as a strong talent pool. "We have a tendency to play referee in a trillion-dollar race, but we have the strength — we just need to have the will to create in Europe."

About Mistral AI

Founded in 2023 by former DeepMind and Meta researchers, the startup has raised more than €1 billion since its inception. Most recently, in June 2024, it raised €600 million in a round led by General Catalyst at a valuation of $6.2 billion.

Mistral is one of the most valued AI startups in Europe, and the only one on the continent to have created AI models that can compete with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Mistral recently signed a multimillion-dollar deal with French media company Agence France-Presse to include its articles in its chatbot.