Who Wins if AI Models Commoditize? — With Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch

Big Technology Podcast

Alex Kantrowitz

Management, Religion, Politics, Entrepreneurship, Business News, News, Investing, Marketing, News Commentary, Social Sciences, Science, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Business, Tech News, Philosophy, Government, Technology

4.7 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Arthur Mensch is the CEO and co-founder of Mistral. Arthur Mensch joins the Big Technology Podcast to discuss what the AI business looks like if all leading models perform the same. Tune in to hear how the commoditization of foundational models is changing the balance of power in the industry, what business models will be profitable, and why the focus is shifting from building better models to building applications. We also cover the open source movement versus closed source models, the geopolitics of AI, and practical industrial applications of the technology. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/bigtech Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What does the AI business look if all the leading models perform the same?
0:04.0	Which they kind of are.
0:05.4	We'll find out with the CEO of Mistraw, right after this.
0:09.6	Can AI's most valuable use be in the industrial setting?
0:12.3	I've been thinking about this question more and more after visiting IFS's Industrial X Unleashed event in New York City and getting a chance to speak with IFS CEO Mark Muffett.
0:23.1	To give a clear example, Mufford told me that IFS is sending Boston Dynamics spot robots
0:28.5	out for inspection, bringing that data back to the IFS nerve center, which then with the assistance
0:33.8	of large language models can assign the right technician to examine areas that need attending.
0:39.6	It's a fascinating frontier of the technology, and I'm thankful to my partners at IFS for opening my eyes to it.
0:46.4	To learn more, go to IFS.com. That's IFS.com.
0:50.4	Welcome to Big Technology Podcast, a show for cool-headed and nuanced conversation of the tech world and beyond.
0:56.7	We have a great show for you today.
0:58.3	We're going to talk all about what's happening to the AI business and technology race
1:02.5	as some of the leading foundational models start to look the same and how that changes the balance of power in the industry.
1:09.0	We're joined by the perfect guest to do it.
1:11.9	Arthur Mention is here with us. He is the CEO and co-founder of Mistral. Arthur, welcome.
1:17.2	I'm happy to be here.
1:18.1	Mistral is a name that those who are deep in the AI world know very well, but might be new
1:23.5	to some of our listeners and viewers. So for folks who are new to Mistral, let me give you
1:28.3	a couple of stats. It is, Mistral is an AI model builder, does some other things which we're
1:33.4	going to get to. It's based in France. Companies valued at $14 billion after starting in April
1:40.6	2023, so little under three years or two and a half years to make a $14 billion
	...

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