Mistral pitches open-source AI after US ban on Anthropic models abroad

The French AI startup Mistral is seizing on a wave of European anxiety over U.S. export controls to position itself as a sovereign alternative to American AI providers, days after the Trump administration forced Anthropic to cut off access to its most advanced models for all foreign nationals.

Mensch's Open-Source Pledge

Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday that his company "exist[s] to make sure that everyone gets access to the best AI systems, outside of centralised control exercised by states or corporations that feel the need to control in-fine deployment of AI." Mensch said upcoming Mistral models would be released with open weights, allowing users to "own, inspect, audit, or improve" the technology and run it on their own infrastructure — a pointed contrast with closed-model providers like Anthropic.sifted

The statement came after a turbulent week for Anthropic. On Saturday, June 13, the U.S. Commerce Department sent the San Francisco-based company a directive invoking export controls to bar all foreign nationals — including Anthropic's own non-citizen employees — from accessing its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models, citing unspecified national security concerns. Anthropic responded by disabling the models for all customers to ensure compliance, drawing widespread criticism from European governments and technology leaders.cnn+3

European Alarm and Opportunity

The ban sent ripples across Europe, where governments and companies had come to rely on Anthropic's frontier models. A legal analysis published by the Verfassungsblog argued that the order demonstrated how "citizenship has acquired a new function globally," excluding foreign nationals "from productivity and vital technology."verfassungsblog

Fortune reported that the episode is opening the door for open-source and non-U.S. AI providers, including China's DeepSeek, to gain ground among international customers suddenly wary of depending on American closed-model companies.fortune

Mistral's Funding Push

Mistral, which launched in Paris in 2023, is moving to capitalize on the moment. The company has raised approximately €3.5 billion in total debt and equity financing and is in early discussions to raise a further €3 billion at a valuation of around €20 billion, according to Bloomberg — nearly double the €11.7 billion it was valued at during its September 2025 Series C round. ASML ↘ 4.00%, the Dutch chip-equipment maker, is Mistral's largest shareholder, with Nvidia ↘ 1.39% also among its backers.techfundingnews+2

The company's annualized revenue has grown from roughly $20 million to over $400 million, with expectations of reaching €1 billion by the end of 2026. If the new funding round closes, Mistral's total financing would reach approximately €6.5 billion — still a fraction of the more than $160 billion raised by Anthropic, but enough to fund its expanding data center footprint across Europe.techcrunch+2