Mistral’s AI assistant app, Le Chat, has achieved remarkable success, reaching 1 million downloads within just 14 days of its release. This milestone also propelled the app to the top spot for free downloads on the iOS App Store in France, Mistral’s home country. The app’s popularity was further boosted by public endorsements, such as French President Emmanuel Macron encouraging citizens to try Le Chat over competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT during a TV interview.
In comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT app garnered significant attention when it launched in May 2023, achieving 500,000 downloads within its first six days. However, at that time, the app was available only to iOS users in the U.S., which limited its initial reach. Despite this constraint, ChatGPT’s launch performance was notable and positioned it among the top-performing AI apps of that year.
The rapid adoption of Le Chat demonstrates Mistral’s ability to compete in a crowded AI market dominated by established players like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. While ChatGPT had a strong start and has since expanded globally with hundreds of millions of downloads, Le Chat’s success highlights the growing demand for localized AI solutions and the potential for regional players to carve out significant market share.