Comment by wraptile
4 hours ago
Apple _owns_ computers in people's pockets. There are very few businesses that can match this value. What does Mistral own? A head start at best. For the record I like Mistral and hope they succeed, but you're comparing apples to oranges.
> ..but you're comparing apples to oranges.
Actually, he’s comparing apples to mistrals.
I’ll get my coat.
Here I was thinking Apple sold phones and you're saying they rent them out?
"What does Mistral own?"
Independence from the USA's CLOUD Act, secret FISA courts, and ICC-style disabling of important services.*
*…and the Chinese equivalents.
Do they actually own it though? AFAIK they have no significant moat even in the EU (legal or competitive) and given the current accessibility to non-SOTA AI (open weight models and distillation) it's just a matter of time until Mistral gets serious competition on these points.
The wording of the CLOUD act prevents any American company from competing, but yes, other European-only companies could offer the same.