Dust, Finegrain, Gladia, Mistral AI, and Situation, all belonging to Motier Ventures, participated in a recent tech meeting focused on AI startups alongside prominent software startups in Europe. The event was marked by a sense of delight among both the audience and the presenters.
Similar to the United States, artificial intelligence has gained rapid traction in the European tech industry, with France positioned as a leading AI hub. This is not surprising considering the abundance of talented PhD students in mathematics, computer science, and architecture, many of whom graduate from prestigious institutions like Conservatoire, ENS, or Inria. Some pursue further studies in the U.S. before returning to work in AI research labs in France.
Yann Le Cun spearheaded the AI efforts at Facebook’s Paris research lab, known as FAIR (Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research), while Google also established its unique AI research facility in Paris.
The FAIR team is highly esteemed, with an investor praising their work on Llama and recent secretive meetings with AI project engineers and scientists.
Mistral AI, a French startup focusing on open-source large language models, secured €105 million in seed funding. Its co-founders, Arthur Mensch, Timothée Lacroix, and Guillaume Lample, all have backgrounds at DeepMind or FAIR.
At a recent event, Mistral AI showcased a new AI demonstration called Mock AI Chat, resembling a ChatGPT-like interface. The team is actively developing a new model, “mistral-70b-instruct-alpha01,” aiming to enhance the efficiency of large language models. Mistral AI is poised to raise up to $300 million soon, according to reports.
Apart from Mistral, other notable AI companies in France include Poolside, which raised $126 million for simplifying code writing, and Dust, a company integrating internal corporate data with large language models.
The emergence of AI startups in France was further highlighted by the joint invitation of Mistral AI and Dust founders to dine at the Elysée Palace by Emmanuel Macron. This collaborative support for AI startups is evident in initiatives like France 2030, where startups collaborate on government grant bids.
The proactive approach of Western AI startups towards regulations and compliance sets them apart from industry giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. Giskard, a French AI company focusing on open-source testing models, is gaining attention in this space.
In a separate development, Adaptive, an AI company co-founded by French AI scientist Julien Launay in Amsterdam, is set to raise around $100 million. The company enables businesses to operate on their AI programs independently.
Additionally, a new wave of AI startups is emerging, including ZML by Steeve Morin, Heart Hands by Alan, Chief of Staff by Pierre Valade, and an AI venture by Hugo Mercier. This surge in AI startups signifies a growing trend in the European tech ecosystem, with a flurry of early-stage activities and increased investments in innovative AI ventures.
