Mistral And TotalEnergies Announce Partnership To Drive Energy Innovation With AI

The French giant TotalEnergies announced this week a new partnership with the startup Mistral AI to drive energy innovation through artificial intelligence. The collaboration will focus on the development and optimization of low-carbon energy solutions.

According to a press release, the two companies will establish a joint innovation lab staffed by experts from both organizations. TotalEnergies—which operates in over 120 countries—will contribute its extensive energy sector expertise, while Mistral AI will bring its advanced AI capabilities—the startup recently launched its first reasoning model, Magistral.

The partners aim to deliver cutting-edge digital solutions by developing multiple projects, such as an AI assistant to support researchers on their mission to reduce TotalEnergy’s environmental footprint. TotalEnergies also highlights its plan on building decision-support solutions to lower its CO₂ emissions and improve customer experiences.

“We are delighted to work with Mistral AI, a leading French player in artificial intelligence. This deal reflects our intention to contribute to the emergence of a technological ecosystem in Europe, and will allow us to explore new opportunities to further embed AI into our activities,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.

“AI has huge potential to transform energy systems, and this partnership was motivated by our pioneering spirit and ongoing search for innovation.”

TotalEnergies founded its Digital Factory five years ago, and 300 employees—including data scientists and experts—have already been working with AI to develop new solutions. However, with the participation of Mistral AI, the company expects to develop and expand its AI efforts to accelerate innovation in the energy sector.

According to Reuters, the collaboration is already underway, as they have already held meetings in their labs. For now, there are no plans to build a new physical lab as they aim to use existing locations.

Arthur Mensch, Chief Executive Officer at Mistral AI, shared his interest in combining forces to assist TotalEnergies on an optimized digital transition. “This partnership illustrates the positive impact generative AI can have on a sector as strategic as that of TotalEnergies,” said Mensch.