Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI, has firmly dismissed the possibility of the company being acquired by American tech giants, emphasizing the importance of maintaining independence. Speaking at the French National Assembly, Mensch criticized the trend of European startups selling to Silicon Valley, describing acquisition as a form of failure. He asserted that Mistral's AI models can match the security capabilities of U.S.-based Anthropic. Mistral has invested €1 billion in R&D this year to support its independent growth, with 75% of its revenue generated within Europe. The company plans to build an 80 MW computing cluster in France next year, aiming for 1 GW by 2029, to ensure computational autonomy and reduce carbon footprint through nuclear power. Mensch warned that Europe's reliance on imported U.S. AI services could lead to significant trade deficits.