Mistral is the French open-source AI startup set on challenging international big tech. It raised a billion euros of investment on launch in 2023, and is valued at six billion euros just two years later. At the recent AI Summit in Paris, President Macron announced full support by the French government to continue to fuel Mistral’s rapid development to hopefully position France as a serious tech contender, not merely a tech regulator.

Designer Sylvain Boyer was in the throes of working on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games visual identity when he noticed a job opening for a junior in-house designer on Mistral’s social media. He applied, stating that, while he was probably older than the candidate they were seeking, he felt Mistral needed to reinforce its image to reflect its international positioning, to attract new investors, and to recruit users.

His application caused confusion at Mistral’s HR but led to a meeting with Mistral’s product manager and later the company’s founder, Arthur Mensch. By then, Boyer’s Olympic Games visual identity blanketed every public space throughout France.