In 2025, Mistral AI is establishing its chatbot Le Chat as a credible alternative to the American and Chinese giants of generative AI. Here’s why this French tool, ultra-fast and versatile, is already winning over millions of users.

The French revolt in generative AI

For years, ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic) and now DeepSeek have dominated the AI assistant market.

But in February 2025, Mistral AI, the French nugget founded by former Google and Meta researchers, launches a major technological offensive with Le Chat.

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Mistral ai le chat interface

With 1,100 tokens generated per second, 10 times faster than ChatGPT, a bilingual French-English interface, and open source models, Le Chat embodies a new vision: a high-performance, ethical AI rooted in Europe.

“Our mission is to bring AI to as many people as possible. The mobile app and free features are key steps”, explains Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI.

In short, chat is:

Speed : 10x ChatGPT
Price : 2x cheaper
Privacy : Data hosted in EU
Polyvalence : Code, images, text, data analysis
To adopt if: need for speed, tight budget, sensitive data
To avoid if: complex workflows, dependence on certain ecosystems

To try Le Chat for free: https://lechat.mistral.ai
Mistral ai le chat l'ia française qui détrône chatgpt?

Le Chat’s technical innovations

Mistral Large : Multilingual and ultra-fast

Chat is based on Mistral Large, a language model trained on 140 billion parameters, specialized in 5 languages (French, English, German, Spanish, Italian).

His strengths:

  • Artificial vision for analyzing images, PDFs and complex tables.
  • Code Interpreter executes real-time code (Python, JavaScript) with a secure sandbox.
  • Recognized medical precision, validated by international tests.

Flash Answers : Unparalleled speed

With 1,000 words generated per second, Le Chat far outperforms its competitors:

Assistant AISpeed (tokens/second)
Mistral Le Chat1,100
Claude (Anthropic)120
ChatGPT85

This speed makes it possible, for example, to generate a 10-page report in less than 15 seconds.

Black Forest Labs Flux Ultra : Photorealistic image generation

Natively integrated, this template produces ultra-realistic 4K visuals.

To learn more about Flux, check out our articles :

Facing the giants: Technical comparison with ChatGPT, Claude and DeepSeek

OpenAI ChatGPT: The leader on the wane

  • Benefits: Larger knowledge base, integration with Microsoft 365.
  • Weaknesses: High latency (85 tokens/s), prohibitively expensive ($20/month).

Anthropic Claude 3 : Ethical specialist, but slow

  • All: Aligned template with strict ethical safeguards.
  • Limit: 120 tokens/second and no support for German or Italian.

DeepSeek-R1 : The Chinese challenger

  • Force: Optimized for Mandarin and Asian business scenarios.
  • Defect: Unsuitable for European languages, interface only in English/Chinese.

Chat stands out for its combo of speed + multilingualism + open source, while being 2 times cheaper than ChatGPT Plus.

Why choose Le Chat?

European Digital Sovereignty

Data hosting in France, RGPD-compliant. “A decisive argument for our banking and healthcare customers”, according to Mistral AI.

All-in-one mobile app
Available on iOS/Android since February 2025, the app alternates between voice, text and live image analysis.

Free business model

  • Free version: Access to Mistral Large, image generation, 10 PDF analyses / day.
  • Pro ($14.99/month) : Network priority, data privacy, 100 PDF scans / day. (Free for Free subscribers)

AFP partnership for reliable information
Contrary to its competitors, Le Chat relies on verified journalistic sources, reducing hallucinations.

Customization for enterprisess
Possible deployment in on-premise or private cloud, with fine-tuned models for sectors such as logistics or pharmaceuticals.

Discover our previous articles on Mistral AI:

Still limited functionality

  • Limited knowledge base: Chat seems to have a time-limited database, resulting in the production of sometimes outdated responses.
  • SaaS connectors : Only 15 native integrations versus 600+ on ChatGPT
  • Technical support: Response within 24 hours in French vs. 2 hours in English for OpenAI

Should we leave OpenAI for Mistral AI?

The breakthrough of Mistral AI is sparking a lively debate among CTOs and tech decision-makers across the Atlantic. According to a study by Dataconomy, 38% of US companies tested Le Chat in January 2025, motivated by productivity gains and regulatory issues.

Game-changing speed

With 1,100 tokens generated/second versus 85 for ChatGPT-4.5 Turbo, Le Chat reduces average AI task time by 74% according to tests conducted by Dataconomy.

“Generating an automation script in 2 seconds instead of 30 radically changes the way we work”, testifies Mark Sullivan, CTO.

However, ChatGPT retains an advantage on complex tasks requiring in-depth reasoning.

Up to 60% savings

Mistral’s business model makes OpenAI tremble:

Cost (for 1M tokens)Mistral Le Chat ProChatGPT Enterprise
Prompt0,50$2.10
Generation$1.20$3.50

Savings due to optimized models (MoE architecture) and European subsidies covering 30% of cloud costs.

The RGPD Argument

With the US Cloud Act worrying multinationals, 72% of US Fortune 500 companies are testing Mistral for their European servers. An imperative for regulated sectors:

The rising AI, made in France

With 4.2 million active users in its first month and a state investment of 109 billion euros announced by Emmanuel Macron, Mistral AI symbolizes the French technological renaissance.

“Chat is just the beginning. By 2026, we’ll be launching AI agents capable of automating complex workflows”, promises Arthur Mensch.