Microsoft has announced a new strategic partnership with French startup Mistral AI, considered to be the European counterpart to OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT. This move reveals Microsoft's ambition to expand beyond its popular chatbot and make a significant impact in the field of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft's statement disclosed that it is investing in the 10-month-old company to unlock new commercial opportunities and expand into international markets, though specific financial details of the transaction were not provided. It is worth noting that Microsoft is already the largest shareholder in the American company OpenAI.

According to the agreement, Mistral's advanced language models (LLM) – the technology behind its generative AI products – will be available on Microsoft's cloud computing platform, Azure. Until now, only OpenAI's LLMs have been hosted on the platform.

Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, emphasized on Monday the significance of the deal as a strong signal of his company's trust in European technology. "I truly believe that today is one of the most important in terms of Microsoft's support for European technology," he stated to CNBC on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.