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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)-backed AI startups G42 and Mistral AI are collaborating to co-develop next-generation AI platforms and infrastructure.
United Arab Emirates, or UAE-based G42 and French firm Mistral said the announcement, held on the margins of Choose France, aligns with the broader AI cooperation agreements supported by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and French President Emmanuel Macron in February 2025.
The companies said the partnership will bring together G42’s operational scale and AI capabilities, through its operating companies, including Core42 on AI Infrastructure and Inception on AI Platform and Solutions development, with Mistral AI’s frontier research, solutions and products in open-weight large language models, or LLMs.
The collaboration spans the AI value chain from AI models training, AI agents and infrastructure development to industry-specific applications across Europe, the Middle East, and the Global South, according to the companies.
The companies added that the Integration of Mistral AI’s platform with G42’s AI stack will be developed with technical autonomy and IP governance designed to protect innovation while enabling scalable deployment.
The companies will explore opportunities to promote each other’s offerings in existing and new international markets.
Under the agreement, Mistral AI will also explore collaboration opportunities with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi across advanced research and development in frontier foundation models, talent development, and the translation of research into real-world AI solutions.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump was on a tour of the Middle East and had announced $600B worth of commitments from Saudi Arabia, including deals to buy large quantities of chips from American companies.
Microsoft has investments in both G42 and Mistral AI.