Mistral AI publicly releases Large 4, targets cybersecurity users

By Leo Marchandon

Oct 29 (Reuters) - French AI startup Mistral released its Large 4 model to the public on Thursday, saying it was designed to help organisations identify and fix cyber-security vulnerabilities.

Unlike leading AI systems such as Google's Gemini, which are mainly accessed through online services, the model can be downloaded and run independently by anyone.

Mistral said the released version was an upgrade from the one unveiled three weeks ago, following testing with governments and corporate users, which helped improve its performance.

The company said organisations could use the software on their own systems, reducing dependence on a third-party provider.

Mistral described it as its most capable openly available model for cyber-security use, competing in a field dominated by Chinese AI models.

"I'm not comfortable living in a world in which open weights do not exist," Mistral Vice President of Science Pierre Stock said.

Once the model is out, "it’s impossible to contain access," he added. That protects users from being cut off, but also means anyone can use it.

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)