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Mistral AI signed a five-year partnership with Airbus and a separate agreement with BMW on Thursday, marking the Paris-based startup's push into industrial engineering applications.
Under the Airbus deal, the aerospace company will acquire licences for Mistral's full product suite, enabling deployment of AI models on-premises, in trusted clouds, or on board aircraft and spacecraft. Airbus will also gain access to Mistral's researchers and a degree of influence over the company's product roadmap, the company said. Among the identified focus areas: using AI to automate the production of technical documents, cutting time on engineering and aircraft design through simulation-based tools, deploying edge AI for tasks such as in-flight object recognition, and applying AI to sensitive defence work including cyber investigations in air-gapped, secure settings.
"This partnership paves the way for the deployment of high-impact, high-value use cases of trusted and responsible AI in aerospace," Catherine Jestin, executive vice president of digital at Airbus, said in a statement. Mistral co-founder and CTO Timothée Lacroix said the two companies would work together to "accelerate innovation, contribute to improve flight safety, and deliver greater value for customers."
