As French AI corporations MistralAI move to build their own data centers and global competition for AI talent intensifies, engineers' annual salaries are soaring to as high as 600 million won, accelerating changes across the market.
According to the Financial Times on the 30th (local time), MistralAI will raise $830 million (about 1.2595 trillion won) through a bond issuance to start building its own data center. The move is seen as a strategy to reduce reliance on U.S. big tech and strengthen AI sovereignty in Europe.
The company has secured a site in Bruyères-le-Châtel near Paris and aims to begin operations as early as the second quarter of this year. It also plans to secure 200MW of computing infrastructure across Europe by the end of 2027. Earlier, it said it would invest about €1.2 billion (about 1.9 trillion won) to build a data center in Sweden.
Arthur Mensch, chief executive officer (CEO) of MistralAI, said, "Demand for customized AI infrastructure is surging among governments, corporations and research institutions," and noted, "We will continue to invest to reduce dependence on external clouds."