Paris-based startup Mistral AI recently launched its latest LLM, Le Chat, to compete with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot. The chat interface offers familiar features like an input field for questions, a chat conversation area, and a column of previous chats. Currently, in beta, a paid version similar to competitors will be available for businesses.
Despite promising performance in benchmark tests, Mistral Large does have its limitations. While it provides quick responses similar to ChatGPT, its knowledge seems to have an expiration date, with facts often stopping at 2021 or 2023. This can lead to outdated information being generated, requiring users to manually verify accuracy.
One major drawback of Mistral AI, like ChatGPT, is its inability to access live internet data, a feature Google’s Gemini excels in. Additionally, users have reported glitches such as repetitive word columns and inaccurate number summaries. Mistral AI also falls short in the context window, allowing for only 32,000 tokens compared to competitors like GPT-4 Turbo with 128,000 tokens.
In a move away from open-source models, Mistral AI plans to focus on commercializing its AI products, with only older models remaining open source. The company aims to offer Mistral Large via Microsoft’s Azure cloud, targeting enterprise clients. Despite these changes, Mistral AI continues to draw attention in the AI market with its innovative solutions.