On February 6, 2025, Mistral AI, a Paris-based startup, unveiled significant updates to its AI assistant, Le Chat, enhancing its features and expanding mobile app availability.
The updated Le Chat now boasts an improved web interface along with mobile applications for both iOS and Android, catering specifically to smartphone users.
Among the standout features is 'Flash Answers,' which allows the assistant to deliver text responses at an impressive speed of up to 1,000 words per second, positioning it as one of the fastest on the market.
However, it's important to note that the Flash Answers feature is currently limited to text, with image responses expected to take longer due to processing times.
Le Chat's image generation capabilities have also been upgraded, utilizing Black Forest Labs Inc.'s Flux Ultra model, which provides superior image quality compared to competitors like OpenAI and Grok.
Additionally, Mistral introduced a new code interpreter in Le Chat, enabling users to execute, analyze, visualize, and simulate data, including generating Python code and creating data visualizations from uploaded files.
This code interpreter functionality mirrors a feature that was added by Anthropic PDC to its AI assistant Claude in 2024.
In November 2024, Mistral had previously added web search capabilities to Le Chat, which include citations and aim to provide factual information, similar to other AI chatbots.
To further enrich user responses, Mistral formed a partnership with Agence France-Presse, integrating newswire stories into Le Chat for current news updates.
While most features of Le Chat remain free, Mistral has introduced a Pro subscription tier priced at $14.99 per month, offering benefits such as unlimited messages, web browsing, news access, file uploads, data analysis, and the option to opt-out of data sharing.
