Xavier Niel: ‘Don’t Cash Out’ — Mistral Backer Urges Europe’s AI Startups To Resist Early Exits and Compete Globally

• Xavier Niel, a leading technology investor in Europe, said the EU could potentially create globally competitive models without large-scale capital like the U.S.
• The French entrepreneur said the region’s talent will be a driving force in its success.
• Big Tech has warned of Europe’s lack of competition against the U.S. and China.

Following the many calls from Big Tech that Europe risks falling behind the U.S. in artificial intelligence, one of the region’s most prominent investors has shared an optimistic take on its future with the emerging technology.

French billionaire entrepreneur Xavier Niel claimed Europe has the potential to create some of the world’s biggest AI companies independently—they just need to avoid selling too quickly.

Invest in European AI

Niel told the Financial Times that Europe can create competitive AI models with a “few hundred million euros,” a staggeringly small number when put alongside the investment from America’s leading companies.

“But over the next two or three years, [success] depends on the number of initiatives and the ability of those who are the real geniuses — those building the best companies — not to be swallowed up or to sell too quickly,” Niel stated.

The French entrepreneur, a significant investor in France-based AI company Mistral, said he would eventually bet billions of his own money into the future of EU AI companies. So far, he’s backed AI startups with €500 million.

European Talent Could Prevail

According to Niel, there is still time to create AI winners in Europe, partly due to the quality of the region’s math and engineering institutes.

“Sure, the world moves faster now, the resources are greater. But there will always be two clever kids somewhere in the world, working out of a garage, with a technological vision or a new idea,” he told the FT.

Niel obviously has an eye for talent in the AI industry. Since his backing of Mistral AI, the startup has soared to a valuation of €6 billion.

Mistral AI, founded by former Meta and Google scientists, has blossomed into one of the region’s finest exports in the field. The startup’s large language model has positioned itself as a fierce contender to OpenAI’s GPT-4.

Amanda Brock, CEO of open technology advocate OpenUK, told CCN that France had surged ahead of the U.K. and the rest of the EU with open source tech and that “this has been driven by President Macron advocating for open source in software and AI.”

Big Tech Less Optimistic

The rare optimism for Europe comes after years of Big Tech warning that the region was falling behind the U.S. in AI innovation and development.

Debbie Weinstein, vice president and managing director of Google U.K. & Ireland, warned that the U.K. would need to enforce a comprehensive opportunity agenda to benefit from AI.

“The U.K. needs to develop a comprehensive and thoughtful strategy that ensures it can stay ahead.”

Meanwhile, Meta’s head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, claimed Europe was “trading on past glories.”

“Given that AI offers such a huge potential to lift economic performance, it seems to us it’s pretty damn important if it can play such a crucial role in lifting the fortunes of Europe that it should be as widely accessible as possible,” he added.