France’s Mistral AI raises 105 million euros shortly after being set up

French technology and artificial intelligence company Mistral AI has raised 105 million euros ($113.4 million) just a month after being set up, the company said on Tuesday, giving a boost to France’s plans to market itself as a major global tech hub.

The fund-raising highlights the rapid growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector as well as Europe’s desire to create rivals to Silicon Valley companies such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Google’s DeepMind.

Paris-based Mistral AI was set up by former Meta and Google artificial intelligence researchers Timothee Lacroix, Guillaume Lample and Arthur Mensch.