Paris-based Mistral AI, a French AI startup, is nearing a deal to raise approximately $600 million at a $6 billion valuation. This marks a significant increase from its previous funding round in December 2023, where it raised $500 million at a valuation just over $2 billion. Notably, this funding round does not include investment from Softbank, which has opted out, but does feature backing from DST. The increased valuation positions Mistral AI to more effectively compete in the open-source Large Language Models sector with major players such as OpenAI and Anthropic.