French AI developer's models will also be made available to Microsoft clients

Microsoft and Mistral said on Tuesday they had signed a “multibillion dollar” deal for the US tech giant to use the French AI developer’s computing infrastructure in Europe.

The agreement would grant Microsoft access to “Europe-based GPU (graphics processing unit) infrastructure to increase capacity for AI development and to support the delivery of Microsoft’s cloud and AI services”, the companies said in a joint statement.

They did not specify the exact value of the deal or the amount of computing power involved.

Multiple major generative AI developers have begun selling computing power to others as the industry expands and high-end chips grow scarce.