explore – Finance News Today

Mistral to explore designing own chips, CEO Arthur Mensch says

Finance News — Thu, 28 May 2026 09:04:51 +0000

French startup Mistral AI is exploring designing its own chips and may eventually develop them, CEO Arthur Mensch told CNBC.

It is the first comment made by Mensch about Mistral’s semiconductor ambitions, underscoring how the company is looking to control more of its infrastructure as it competes with U.S. heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic.

“Of course, it is interesting,” Mensch said about the prospect of Mistral developing its own chips, adding that the company is not ruling it out.

Mensch said that custom chips allow a company to “lower the cost of deploying tokens to meaningful extents.” Tokens are units of data processed by AI models.

“Owning the chips may come, I think it should come at some point, but for now we are relying on Nvidia, which is a great partner to us, and we’re testing a few things here and there,” Mensch told CNBC.

Mistral, which is valued at nearly 12 billion euros, develops AI models but is also investing in building data centers with Nvidia chips. The Paris-headquartered firm is often seen as Europe’s answer to OpenAI and Anthropic.

The company is focused on enterprise and counts companies such as chip equipment giant ASML among its top customers.

If Mistral were to develop its own chips, it would follow in the footsteps of the big American hyperscalers such as Amazon and Google, which have designed and deployed their own semiconductors in their data centers.

Custom chips, also known as an application-specific integrated circuit, are seen as a way for hyperscalers to have more control over their hardware and software integrations, potentially offering a differentiated product from competitors.

Data center expansion

Mistral announced on Thursday a new data center in France designed specifically for inferencing, which is the actual process of running AI models.

Mistral has invested 4 billion euros in data centres in France and Sweden as it looks to ramp up its compute capacity.

“Europe is lagging behind when it comes to [the] buildout of infrastructure, and so we are investing to close that gap,” Mensch told CNBC.

The bloc is facing not just a technological problem, but a macroeconomic problem, he said, adding that Europe is now starting to view AI as a strategic asset, the same way it has looked at gas.

“You can’t afford to have a commercial deficit of a trillion if you actually want to stay competitive in the race, and so that’s something I think that people are realizing that we’re talking about something that should be concerning for any one of us.”

The additional compute capacity in France will be used to service Mistral’s customers as well as other AI labs, Mensch said, without mentioning specific companies.

“AI labs are in sore need of compute, and we have some of it, and some of them are actually asking us for a lot of compute today,” Mensch said.

The Mistral CEO said the company needs to “prioritize the access” for its compute, with some going to AI labs and “more importantly” to its customers.

Agentic focus

Mistral on…

Klarna Partners With Privy To Explore Use Of Crypto Wallets

Finance News — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 15:42:31 +0000

Just weeks after announcing a stablecoin, Swedish fintech giant Klarna is taking another step into crypto. The company has teamed up with Privy, a wallet infrastructure platform owned by Stripe, to explore digital asset solutions for its users.

The partnership will focus on research and development of crypto wallet features, the company said. The two aim to make it easier for everyday users to store, use, and send digital assets. The move builds on the company’s recent launch of KlarnaUSD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin issued on the Tempo blockchain.

“Millions already trust Klarna to manage everyday spending, saving, and shopping,” said Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder. “That puts us in a unique position to bring crypto into the financial lives of normal people, not just early adopters. With Privy, we plan to build products that feel as intuitive as any other Klarna feature.”

KlarnaUSD was launched with Tempo and Bridge, a Stripe-backed stablecoin infrastructure provider.

The token is live on Tempo’s testnet and expected to launch on mainnet in 2026. The fintech giant said the stablecoin could reduce global cross-border payment costs, currently estimated at $120 billion annually.

100 million accounts coming to crypto via Klarna

Privy powers over 100 million accounts for more than 1,500 developers. The platform supports crypto-native applications like OpenSea and Hyperliquid.

Henri Stern, CEO and co-founder of Privy, said the partnership will allow users to hold a wide variety of digital assets, trade safely, and transact with friends anywhere in the world.

“We’re proud to partner with world-class fintechs like Klarna, providing the secure, enterprise-ready infrastructure they need,” Stern said. “Privy aims to be the backbone for any business that wants to harness the exciting capabilities crypto and stablecoins offer.”

The initiative reflects a growing trend. Traditional fintechs are now testing ways to integrate crypto tools into everyday consumer finance. The company said any future wallet or crypto product would require the necessary regulatory approvals before launch.

Venture capital firm a16z estimates that 716 million people globally hold cryptocurrencies. Between 40 million and 70 million transact with crypto each month. That figure grows by roughly 10 million users a year.

Klarna’s push into crypto marks a sharp turn for the company. CEO Siemiatkowski was once a vocal skeptic of digital currencies.

He said the market’s maturity and Klarna’s global reach now justify this entry. Klarna serves 114 million customers and processes $112 billion in annual gross merchandise volume.

The company plans to explore further crypto initiatives. A blog post on Thursday hinted at a new announcement “in a week or so,” suggesting more developments are coming soon.

Intention to Explore Dual Listings

Finance News — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 14:57:02 +0000

Amazing AI plc (AQSE: AAI) – 20 November 2025: AAI is a global fintech group with a Digital Asset Treasury Policy that provides online consumer loans and AI finance-related services. AAI announces that the Company is exploring its options to dual list on the Mauritius Stock Exchange and OTCQB Market in the US and will provide updates to the market should applications proceed accordingly.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation, and the Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

Enquiries:

Amazing AI plc
Paul Mathieson – Chief Executive Officer	aai@amazingaiplc.com

Guild Financial Advisory Limited (Corporate Adviser)
Ross Andrews	ross.andrews@guildfin.co.uk
Evangeline Klaassen	evangeline.klaassen@guildfin.co.uk

About Amazing AI plc

Amazing AI plc (AAI) is a global fintech group with a diversified Digital Asset Treasury Policy, that provides online consumer loans and AI finance-related services. AAI leverages its regulated licensed lending and collections operations, experience and network to distribute best-of-breed AI finance-related services internationally, specifically focused on lending, collections and debt financing services. AAI operates under the consumer brand Mr. Amazing Loans in the United States with 6 state consumer lending licenses/certificates of authority and an established track-record of lending, collections and regulatory compliance for over 15 years.

For more information please visit: www.amazingaiplc.com and www.aquis.eu/companies/aai

Important Notices

Amazing AI plc (the “Company”), via its 100% owned Mauritius subsidiary Amazing AI Services Ltd, holds treasury reserves and surplus cash in digital assets. Whilst the Board of Directors of the Company considers holding digital assets to be in the best interests of the Company, the Board remains aware that the financial regulator in the UK (the “Financial Conduct Authority” or “FCA”) considers investment in digital assets to be high risk. At the outset, it is important to note that an investment in the Company is not an investment in digital assets, either directly or by proxy. However, the Board of Directors of the Company consider digital assets to be an appropriate store of value and growth for the Company’s reserves and, accordingly, the Company is materially exposed to digital assets. Such an approach is innovative, and the Board of Directors of the Company wish to be clear and transparent with prospective and actual investors in the Company on the Company’s position in this regard.

The Company is neither authorised nor regulated by the FCA and digital assets are unregulated in the UK. As with most other investments, the value of digital assets can go down as well as up, and therefore the value of digital asset holdings can fluctuate. The Company may not be able to realise any future digital asset exposure for the same as it paid in the first place or even for the value the Company…