Another AI assistant for iPhone? This one’s different

By Bryan M. Wolfe Published February 7, 2025

Did we really need another AI assistant on the iPhone? Perhaps not, but a new one has arrived. Le Chat, developed by Mistral, is a French-based AI assistant that was previously only available online. It has now been launched on the App Store and Google Play Store.

Once called Europe’s great hope for AI, Le Chat uses Mistral’s native language models, such as Mistral Large and Pixtral Large. Thus, the app competes with other AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Mistral Large and Pixtral Large are advanced AI models, but they significantly differ in their capabilities. Mistral Large is a powerful large language model (LLM) designed for text-based tasks. It excels at generating creative content, translating languages, writing various types of creative works, and providing informative answers to questions.

In contrast, Pixtral Large is a cutting-edge multimodal language model that can understand and reason with both text and visual data. It combines a text decoder with a vision encoder, enabling it to process and analyze images alongside text. This allows Pixtral Large to excel in tasks such as document analysis, chart interpretation, and understanding natural images, going beyond the text-only capabilities of Mistral Large.

As TechCrunch explains, Le Chat is known for being able to answer up to 1,000 words per second. It also promises better image generation and better privacy than competitor products.

Le Chat includes natural language conversations, real-time internet searches, and document analysis. It integrates pre-trained knowledge with current web searches, journalism, and social media content to provide a range of information sources. With its user-friendly interface and functional capabilities, Le Chat aims to assist users in managing daily life and work complexities.

As Mistral launches Le Chat for mobile, it has also introduced a new paid plan called Le Chat Pro, available for $14.99 per month. This plan offers unlimited access to Mistral’s highest-performing model and web browsing capabilities. Additionally, users can send an unlimited number of messages per day, enjoy extended access to news, upload files without restriction, and take advantage of other enhanced features.

AI chatbots are currently among the most popular apps in the App Store. ChatGPT, the newly launched DeepSeek, and Google Gemini are all in the top 10. It will be interesting to see if Le Chat finds an audience among iPhone and Android users.