Cade files investigation into partnership established between Microsoft and Mistral AI

The plenary session of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) unanimously decided to shelve the investigation into the partnership established between Microsoft and Mistral AI, startup French artificial intelligence (AI). The partnership involves Microsoft’s investment in Mistral, Microsoft’s provision of cloud supercomputing infrastructure and the availability of Mistral models on the Azure platform.

The rapporteur, advisor José Levi Mello do Amaral Júnior, highlighted that there was no acquisition of control of Mistral by Microsoft, as previously presented in a technical note from Cade’s General Superintendence (SG). He considered that no signs of harm to the Brazilian competitive environment had been identified.

In October 2024, Administrative Procedure for Investigation of Concentration Act (Apac) was opened. According to the parties, Microsoft recorded, in Brazil in 2023, the year prior to the operation, revenues higher than the level required for notification of the operation to the Brazilian antitrust authority. However, Mistral only started generating revenue in December 2023 and, in any case, at global levels significantly below R$75 million – a revenue criterion that requires notification. They also claimed that Mistral’s only consumer product in Brazil, the chatbot Le Chat, is offered free of charge and free of ads.

The parties also reported that no assets were acquired that could generate horizontal or vertical relationships requiring mandatory notification. Regarding Microsoft’s investment in Mistral, they stated that Microsoft’s participation would be de minimiswith rights only to protect investment, not being part of Mistral’s control block.