ASML makes the indispensable tools that produce semiconductors. But what everyone really wants is the Lego version www.wsj.com/lifestyle/as... "The collectibles are exclusively available to staff. They are limited to one set per person—and the policy is now strictly enforced" Boo
Will that be government and companies or OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. “I don’t think the Europe-versus-America prism is the right one,” Mensch says. “I think the right one is open-source versus closed-source models.”
Sovereignty has been a big part of Mistral’s story since day one. And negative soundbites from President Donald Trump, and Palantir’s Karp, on Europe are undoubtedly helpful for Mensch to close deals but he thinks that’s the real battle is about who controls AI.
But with the cost of Claude and ChatGPT tokens becoming a significant line item for some businesses, who also face usage being metered, low-cost and open weight alternatives that businesses themselves control suddenly look a lot more attractive.
Exactly what's happening with Chinese open source models that range from startups to deeply resourced corporates like Alibaba's Qwen is complex...
www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/12/1...
And the Chinese labs (who have faced accusations of heavily distilling from American closed models) may also be pulling back from open source themselves
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
American open source lab Reflection is tipped to raise on a $25 billion valuation www.wsj.com/tech/ai/nvid...
There are growing fears over the reliance on Chinese open source models.
Nvidia plans to plow $26 billion over five years into its own open-weight models
www.wired.com/story/nvidia...
But many people seem to coming around to Mistral founder’s Mensch way of thinking.
OpenAI and Anthropic are also pushing into this type of consulting deals
www.theinformation.com/articles/ope...
Mistral has no shortage of doubters. Its models are outclassed by Claude, OpenAI, and China open-source players. It doesn’t have the resources to compete. It’s just a “systems integrator” some sniff
The strategy has worked to the tune of $200 million in revenue in 2025. And Mistral’s cofounder Arthur Mensch says Mistral is on track to start making around $80 million monthly by December, although due to high compute and data costs the company isn’t yet profitable.
And to score blue-chip customers like HSBC, Tesco and CMA, Mistral borrowed an idea from Palantir: “forward-deployed engineers.”
Mensch isn’t just selling an AI model; he’s dispatching highly skilled staff to solve business problems.
Posters around the office play on Palantir’s name and poulet, the French word for chicken (the Gallic rooster is a traditional French symbol ). One appears to show Palantir’s billionaire CEO, Alex Karp, with a rooster’s head; another presents “Poulantir” going public on the NYSE
Forget Palantir. Meet ‘Poulantir”. It seems to be a running joke among Mistral’s 700-strong staff that the company’s future leans on challenging Palantir.
A workplace lawsuit has opened the lid on the little-known ownership structure of Insight Partners, an investor in OpenAI and Anthropic: It is now partially owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.
Read for more details. With @iainmartin.bsky.social for @forbes.com:
www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
AI labs are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy email, Slack and Jira threads from dead startups as feedstock for ‘reinforcement learning gyms,’ which specialize in using defunct company data to build simulated work environments
www.forbes.com/sites/annato... via @annatonger.bsky.social
Your 2021 Slack vent-session could be helping a future AI agent learn to "act professional."
My latest @forbes.com story dives into how AI labs are clamoring to buy email, Slack and Jira data from defunct companies, to use as fuel for training AI.
www.forbes.com/sites/annato...
A workplace lawsuit has opened the lid on the little-known ownership structure of Insight Partners, an investor in OpenAI and Anthropic: It is now partially owned by the government of Abu Dhabi www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
A little thread on why independence matters in journalism. Together with @investigate-europe.eu, the Guardian has been investigating the dangerous illegal casinos trade. 🧵
NEW: @iainmartin.bsky.social and I looked into Silicon Valley tech firm Applied Intuition and plans by its billionaire cofounders to lead in the race to automate everything that moves #autonomousvehicles #AI www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
Against the expressed wishes of the FAA, CBP had used the Pentagon’s highly classified laser-weapon system to shoot down what it thought was a handful of Mexican cartel drones on the southern border. The aerial objects were likely party balloons
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Jeffrey #Epstein had access to tech billionaires like Thiel and Musk. But he walked away from deals with major startups—including Spotify & SpaceX—that could have netted him hundreds of millions in total.
Deep dive from @iainmartin.bsky.social + me for @forbes.com:
www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Secretive Silicon Valley Investments www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
Did Epstein’s relationship with Peter Thiel cost him a potential $500m+ windfall from Spotify’s massive IPO?
A Former Russian Jewelry Magnate’s Humanoid Robot Startup Is In Talks To Raise $200 Million www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
How Jeffrey Epstein Helped His Publicist Masha Bucher Become A Big-Time Venture Capitalist www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
Granola is the AI note-taker app that has clicked (crunched?) for VCs, and startups. Now the London-based startup is raising on a billion dollar plus valuation www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
Since AI note-taker Granola launched in 2024 its quickly become a fixture for VCs and increasingly startup founders and operators. Now it's in talks with investors to raise at a valuation of over $1 billion www.forbes.com/sites/iainma...
