Mistral’s new 1T model aims to leapfrog closed and open rivals | TechCrunch

Mistral AI, described in the article as a French AI lab, released Mistral Large 4, a new large multimodal model. According to TechCrunch, the release aims to leapfrog both closed and open rivals, and the article says the model is intended to compete with both American and Chinese rivals. The article reports that the release follows what French president Macron has described as 'a third way in AI.' The model is nicknamed Le Chonk in reference to its one trillion parameters.

The article states that Mistral Large 4 is not yet an open-weight release. Mistral VP Science Pierre Stock said the company will work with trusted partners and governments on weights that 'can be used to defend, but not to [perform] malicious attacks.' Stock is identified in the article as Mistral's VP Science. The article does not identify the trusted partners or governments referred to by Stock.

The article places the release in the context of competition between the French lab and both American and Chinese developers, with the headline describing the rivals as both closed and open. The nickname Le Chonk is given in the article as a reference to the model's one trillion parameters. The article reports the company's stated intention to work with trusted partners and governments on the weights, with Stock quoted as saying they can be used to defend but not to perform malicious attacks.