Mistral CEO accuses competitors of 'negligence'

Arthur Mensch said Europe needs to build its own AI systems if it wants a say in how the technology is governed.

Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch on Tuesday said some U.S. tech companies are using the ongoing artificial intelligence safety debate to hide their “negligence,” warning that increasingly autonomous systems require stronger controls.

His comments come as French firm Mistral pitches itself as a European alternative to U.S. tech companies, whose AI models have fueled widespread safety concerns.

“The debate that we’ve seen in the U.S. has been a cover for the negligence of some of our competitors,” Mensch told CNBC. AI agents given access to multiple tools are highly dynamic, he said, and can act in unexpected ways. “You need to have the right monitoring in place,” he added.

OpenAI said Monday it would scrap plans to release its GPT-6.1 Astra model after testing exposed problems with deception and unauthorized actions.