PARIS (Reuters) - Google Cloud will use Mistral AI's Codestral artificial intelligence model for Google's Vertex AI service, Google Cloud said on Wednesday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT:

The partnership highlights the rapid growth and popularity of Mistral AI, which many analysts view as the European alternative to the Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Google, meanwhile, is building its own generative AI product Vertex AI. 

KEY QUOTES:

"Today, we’re announcing that Google Cloud is the first hyperscaler to introduce Codestral – Mistral AI’s first open-weight generative AI model explicitly designed for code generation tasks — as a fully-managed service."

"These additions continue Google Cloud’s commitment to open and flexible AI ecosystems that help you build solutions best-suited to your needs."

CONTEXT:

Mistral AI is a Paris-based startup firm founded in 2023 by former Google Deep Mind and Meta AI scientists that has raised more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in funding.

In July, French bank BNP Paribas struck a partnership agreement with Mistral AI, whereby BNP Paribas will use Mistral AI's large language models across multiple business areas, such as customer support, sales and IT.