After Mistral Large, Microsoft expands AI offerings with Mistral Small

Microsoft has expanded its AI capabilities through a partnership with French startup Mistral AI, the OpenAI rival. This multi-year deal brings Mistral’s powerful large language models (LLMs) to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. Earlier, it was Mistral Large; now, Mistral Small is here.

As per insights provided by Mistral AI, Mistral Small is Mistral AI’s smallest proprietary Large Language Model (LLM). It can be used on any language-based task that requires high efficiency and low latency.

Azure AI customers now have access to both Mistral Small and Large LLMs, offering a range of benefits:

• Efficiency: Mistral Small is optimized for low latency, making it ideal for high-volume tasks.
• Information Retention: This model excels at remembering crucial details even with long context windows.
• Coding Expertise: Mistral offers strong capabilities in code generation, review, and comments across various programming languages.
• Multilingual Powerhouse: Mistral shines in French, German, Spanish, and Italian, alongside dozens of other supported languages.
• Built-in Safety: The models are equipped with safety measures and offer an additional “safe prompt” option for enhanced control.

Azure subscribers can access and test Mistral Small through Azure AI Studio. This partnership shows Microsoft’s continued focus on AI development, potentially driven by its earlier concerns about falling behind competitors like Google.

Earlier, Microsoft’s partnership with Mistral raises lobbying concerns in the EU. 

It’s worth noting that Mistral AI, founded by former Meta and Google DeepMind employees, boasts significant funding and a potential investment from Microsoft (details undisclosed). This move echoes Microsoft’s long-standing partnership with OpenAI, highlighting its strategic focus on staying at the forefront of the AI revolution.

More here.