French energy giant, TotalEnergies, has entered a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence startup Mistral to co-develop digital tools aimed at improving the performance of its energy operations and industrial assets. The company said on Thursday that the initiative is also targeted at enhancing energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
Under the collaboration, Mistral will support TotalEnergies in building an AI-powered assistant to aid project development, recommend operational decisions to lower emissions at industrial sites, and improve customer service solutions that help clients manage and reduce energy usage. Teams from both companies have already begun working together at existing locations, though no new physical lab is planned.
TotalEnergies’ Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanne, highlighted the potential of AI to revolutionize energy systems, stating the deal underscores the company’s commitment to fostering a vibrant technological ecosystem in Europe. The partnership comes shortly after Mistral unveiled Europe’s first AI reasoning model, a breakthrough technology designed to enhance logical thinking in artificial intelligence.
Since 2022, TotalEnergies has actively collaborated with AI startups to optimize operations across its electricity business. Previous partnerships have focused on predictive maintenance for wind turbines, electricity trading optimization using weather models, and digital planning of renewable energy farms. The firm also trialed Microsoft’s AI tool Copilot earlier this year to identify valuable applications for its workforce.