Mistral AI, the rising star of Europe’s artificial intelligence scene, is not rushing toward an IPO anytime soon. CEO Arthur Mensch cleared the air during a recent interview with Fortune, dismissing growing speculation about the company’s public listing plans.
The buzz around a potential Mistral AI IPO intensified after Chinese rival DeepSeek entered the market, sparking fresh questions about the long-term viability of AI model builders in Europe. Despite the chatter, Mensch remains unfazed, pointing instead to a string of high-profile defense deals the company has recently secured with both government agencies and major corporations.
His latest comments add context to earlier remarks made to Bloomberg, where Mensch acknowledged that Mistral’s long-term goal included going public. At the time, he firmly denied rumors of a buyout, stating the company was “not for sale.” When pressed about the possibility of an IPO, Mensch replied confidently: “Of course that’s the plan.”
Now, Mensch has clarified his position. Speaking to Fortune, he explained, “I was asked a question about our future, and what I said is that we intend to remain an independent company, [so] the natural path is to get to an IPO at some point.” However, he emphasized that an initial public offering is not on the immediate horizon. “Just to clarify, we’re not looking towards an IPO [right now],” he added.
Founded just two years ago in Paris by alumni from Meta and DeepMind, Mistral set out with a bold vision — to build a European AI powerhouse capable of competing with the likes of OpenAI and other US-based tech giants. That ambition quickly gained attention when the startup secured a record-breaking €105 million seed round to develop generative AI models rivaling those of bigger, better-funded competitors.
Mistral’s momentum has continued. The company has now raised over €1 billion in funding, with its latest €600 million Series B round — including €468 million in equity — catapulting its valuation to €5.8 billion. That milestone makes Mistral the most valuable AI startup in Europe, solidifying its position as a serious challenger in the global AI race.
Yet, the startup hasn’t been immune to controversy. Last year, Mistral’s partnership with Microsoft raised eyebrows among some supporters of open-source AI. Through the deal, Mistral began offering several closed-source models — a move critics saw as backtracking on its original open-source promise. Typically, open-source AI means developers and enterprises can access, modify, and run the models themselves.
Mensch defended the company’s approach, telling Fortune, “It’s as open as you can be. We share the weights, we share the inference, we share a lot of findings around how we built it. There’s obviously some trade secrets that we keep, because that’s how we bring our core value to work with customers.”
Mistral insists its hybrid model sets it apart. By maintaining a mostly open-source approach, the company claims to offer enterprise clients the flexibility to deploy AI models tailored to their privacy and security needs — a feature increasingly sought after in regulated industries.
Beyond enterprise AI, Mistral is now signaling ambitions in consumer tech as well. Just last month, the startup rolled out Le Chat — a conversational assistant now available on app stores. The app allows users to browse the web, access news, and analyze documents and data, marking Mistral’s growing push into consumer-facing AI products.
For now, though, Mensch and his team appear focused on building out Mistral’s AI capabilities and strategic partnerships rather than chasing stock market debuts. The company’s strong backing and soaring valuation suggest it can afford to grow on its own terms — with the Mistral AI IPO remaining a future goal, not a current priority.
