Is the EU going to step in? Rumor has it that Microsoft (MSFT.US) invests in European AI up-and-coming Mistral AI sparks scrutiny

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to media reports, Microsoft (MSFT.US), the majority shareholder of OpenAI, announced an investment in Mistral AI, an artificial intelligence startup from Europe in less than a day, but EU antitrust regulators are already planning to conduct a thorough review and analysis of this cooperation. On Monday, the Paris-based AI startup said it was introducing the latest big language model it developed, called “Mistral Large,” to Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform.

Late on Monday night, Beijing time, Mistral AI, a startup that has been a European leader in artificial intelligence for less than a year, sent several messages — announcing the latest big model Mistral Large, launching the first chatbot product, Le Chat, and reaching a deeper cloud computing cooperation agreement with Microsoft.

Mistral AI and Microsoft announced that they have reached a new partnership. This cooperation will also enable Microsoft to hold a small share of Mistral AI. Judging from the announcement, the cooperation between the two parties mainly includes three aspects: 1. Microsoft provides Mistral AI with the computing power required to develop and operate models; 2. The large model of Mistral AI is listed on Microsoft cloud computing services for global users to deploy; 3. The two sides will explore cooperation to create specific models for specific customers.

However, after all the above news was announced, a spokesperson for the European Commission (European Commission) regulator stated that after getting a copy of the agreement, the regulator will analyze Microsoft's investment in Mistral and the shareholding structure. The media also reported that this move could lead the European Union to launch an official investigation into Microsoft's investment.

According to media reports, citing information revealed by people familiar with the matter, the tech giant invested about 15 million euros (about 16.3 million US dollars) in OpenAI rival Mistral AI.

When Microsoft invests in this French startup, Microsoft, which is the majority shareholder of OpenAI, is trying to set its sights on fields other than OpenAI. Relying on the status of the majority shareholder of OpenAI, Microsoft successfully embedded the GPT model that OpenAI is proud of into flagship application software such as its Office series products, and charges fees for some software in the form of subscriptions, making it an absolute leader in AI applications worldwide. Microsoft's chief financial officer Amy Hood predicts that Microsoft's “business based on generative artificial intelligence” will be the fastest business in Microsoft's history to reach a scale of 10 billion US dollars.

Mistral AI stated in the announcement that the artificial intelligence model developed by the company achieved excellent results in commonly used benchmark tests, making it the second-ranked model in the world, after the GPT-4 model launched by OpenAI.