Mistral unveils Le Chonk for private AI use

French tech company Mistral announced Le Chonk, officially Mistral Large 4, as its largest open-weight AI model for users seeking to keep data private. The model is set to be publicly available on October 27, and cybersecurity experts and government authorities will get access to a version with fewer safety restrictions to test its capabilities.

Le Chonk allows users to download and customize the weights that shape how the system computes on their own servers. Mistral contrasted that approach with closed systems from Anthropic and OpenAI, while noting that many Chinese competitors use open-weight models.

The release is Mistral’s first new model since May and follows a €3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) fundraising round described as Europe’s biggest technology fundraising. CEO Arthur Mensch said the model is “actually above the Chinese models” in areas including cyber and rejected the idea that Europe cannot compete, without identifying the Chinese models.