The Microsoft-Mistral deal brings Mistral Large to Azure

The Microsoft-Mistral AI partnership is no joke. Microsoft teamed up with Mistral AI, a French start-up hailed as Europe’s counterpart to ChatGPT creator OpenAI. This collaboration underscores Microsoft’s ambition to broaden its influence within the rapidly advancing artificial intelligence sector.

Microsoft disclosed its investment in Mistral AI, a venture valued at 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) and just 10 months old, aiming to unlock novel commercial prospects and facilitate its expansion into international markets, though specific financial details were not disclosed.

“This partnership with Microsoft enables Mistral AI with access to Azure’s cutting-edge AI infrastructure, to accelerate the development and deployment of their next generation large language models (LLMs) and represents an opportunity for Mistral AI to unlock new commercial opportunities, expand to global markets, and foster ongoing research collaboration.”

-Microsoft

Details of the Microsoft-Mistral AI collaboration

As part of the Microsoft-Mistral AI partnership, Mistral AI’s cutting-edge large language models (LLMs), which are pivotal in generating AI-driven products, will now be accessible through Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service. This integration not only positions Mistral AI as the second entity to leverage Azure for hosting its LLMs, following OpenAI, but it also enhances the startup’s outreach to potential new clients through its innovative, multilingual conversational assistant known as “Le Chat,” or “the cat.”

The Microsoft Mistral AI collab is setting new benchmarks in AI development and deployment (Image credit)

This strategic collaboration is built around three primary pillars:

1. Leveraging Azure’s AI supercomputing capabilities, Microsoft is set to provide Mistral AI with unparalleled performance and scalability. This support is aimed at optimizing AI training and inference processes for Mistral AI’s flagship models, ensuring top-tier efficiency.
2. Together, Microsoft and Mistral AI will introduce Mistral AI’s advanced models to a broader audience via Models as a Service (MaaS) within the Azure AI Studio and the Azure Machine Learning model catalog. This initiative not only widens the availability of Mistral AI’s offerings but also integrates them with Azure’s AI-optimized infrastructure and enterprise-grade solutions, facilitating global distribution and promotion to Microsoft’s extensive customer base.
3. The partnership extends into collaborative efforts in AI R&D, particularly in developing specialized models tailored to the needs of select customers, including those in the European public sector. This focus on innovation and customization underscores the partnership’s commitment to advancing AI technology and applications.

The Microsoft-Mistral AI collab is setting new benchmarks in AI development and deployment, promising a future where AI-driven solutions are more accessible, efficient, and tailored to meet diverse global needs.

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Mistral Large is integrated into Azure

During Microsoft Ignite in November 2023, a significant announcement was made regarding the integration of Mistral 7B into the Azure AI model catalog, now accessible via Azure AI Studio and Azure Machine Learning. The introduction of Mistral AI’s flagship model, Mistral Large, exclusively on Azure AI and Mistral AI platforms, signifies a strategic expansion in our offerings.

The Microsoft Mistral AI partnership is official (Image credit)

Mistral Large, a versatile general-purpose language model, is designed to address any text-based application with its advanced reasoning and extensive knowledge. It stands out for its proficiency in code and mathematics, its ability to interpret multiple documents in a single query, and its multilingual support, including French, German, Spanish, Italian, and English.

This integration of Mistral AI’s superior models into the Models as a Service (MaaS) within Azure AI Studio and Azure Machine Learning offers Microsoft customers a comprehensive array of top-tier and open-source models. This facilitates the creation and implementation of tailored AI solutions, setting the stage for groundbreaking AI-powered advancements.

Featured image credit: Lumière Rezaie/Unsplash