True to the strong winds that inspired its name, French start-up Mistral AI took Davos by storm in 2024, having delivered a world-class artificial intelligence model with a fraction of the usual resources. The Paris-based start-up, less than a year old, was on a high. It was freshly valued at $2bn and had the backing of AI chip leader Nvidia and prominent venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mistral’s founding trio of hotshot AI researchers — Guillaume Lample, Timothée Lacroix and chief executive A...