Europe wants its own Open AI. The bloc's politicians are sick of regulating American tech giants from afar. They want Europe to build its own generative AI, which is why so many people are rooting for Jonas Andrulis, an easy-going German with a carefully pruned goatee. Ask people within Europe's tech bubble which AI companies they're excited about and the names that come up most are Mistral, a French startup that has raised $100 million without releasing any products, and the company Andrulis founded, Aleph Alpha, which sells generative AI as a service to companies and governments and already has thousands of paying customers. Skeptics in the industry question whether the company can really compete in the same league as Google and OpenAI, whose ChatGPT launched the current boom in generative AI.

Generative AI chatbots unveiled by US tech firms have captivated the world with their spectacular successes and failures in engaging in conversations. But European firms focusing more on business applications are confident they won't be left in the dust in the rapidly developing field, even as they redouble their efforts. "The launch of ChatGPT has changed everything. It has been a wake-up call for European firms," said Laurent Daudet at French startup LightOn. "But the battle for generative AI isn't over," he added.