In the fierce competition within the artificial intelligence sector, French newcomer Mistral AI has suddenly unleashed a significant move, rolling out a series of eye-catching new initiatives that have brought a true festival of delight to AI developers.
On Tuesday of this week, this Paris-based AI startup, valued at a staggering $6 billion, announced a major news update via a blog post: the introduction of a new free package. This move is undoubtedly aimed at attracting more developers to explore, fine-tune, and test their AI models at home. Mistral's slogan seems to be "enjoy more fun with less investment," a unique approach in the current competitive AI model market.
Image source note: The image is generated by AI, provided by the image licensing service Midjourney
Mistral has not only significantly reduced the cost for developers to access its AI models through API endpoints but also added image processing capabilities to its free consumer AI chatbot, le Chat. This move breaks the limitations of traditional chatbots, offering users a richer interactive experience.
In the AI field, offering free packages to attract developers has become a trend. Industry giants like OpenAI and Google have also introduced free tiers for developers to try out, although these free versions often have speed limits lower than paid packages. Mistral's move undoubtedly positions it advantageously in this competition.
Mistral's new package is provided through its API service platform, la Plateforme. Developers can freely experiment, evaluate, and use Mistral's AI models to create prototypes here. However, if developers wish to use these models in a production environment, they may need to upgrade to a paid commercial tier to obtain higher rate limits.
Although Mistral claims to have "open" AI models and offers a free usage package, the strategic considerations behind this are intriguing. While users can download and use Mistral's AI models for free under the Apache 2.0 license, setting up and hosting these models' infrastructure is a cumbersome task. Through la Plateforme, Mistral not only provides developers with convenience but also creates an opportunity to promote services with higher rate limits.
In addition to launching a free package, Mistral has significantly adjusted its pricing strategy. The costs for accessing Mistral NeMo, Mistral Small, and Codestral through API endpoints have been reduced by over 50%, while the price for Mistral Large has been cut by 33%. This price reduction is undoubtedly a delight for developers, significantly easing their financial burden.
More excitingly, Mistral's first multi-modal model, Mistral12B, has also been launched on le Chat. This model can not only process text but also scan, analyze, and search images, demonstrating strong multi-functionality.
Mistral's series of initiatives, including the introduction of a free package, significant price reductions, and the introduction of a new multi-modal model, undoubtedly extend a large olive branch to the developer community. This not only reflects Mistral's ambition in the AI field but also injects new vitality into the entire industry.
