Mistral AI – What can the European open-source alternative do?
Mike presents Mistral AI (Le Chat) as a privacy-friendly European alternative to ChatGPT: libraries, agents, connectors — and when on-premises really makes sense.
What you will learn
Mike does not connect his Google Drive to ChatGPT for data protection reasons. Mistral is a sensible alternative, especially where data protection matters.
Why Mistral matters
Open source. Can be run on-premises within your company network.
Priced similarly to ChatGPT. Based in France.
Both providers do not use entered data for training by default in team versions.
According to Mike, more precise than ChatGPT for text and data analysis.
Libraries as Custom Instructions
Mistral's libraries feature replaces Custom Instructions - and according to Mike is even more flexible. If you have several roles, simply switch the library instead of adjusting Custom Instructions each time.
Example: Mike general consultant, Mike Founder Audience, MS writing style Press Releases - choose the right library for the task.
Building agents (like Custom GPTs)
Prepare knowledge files as text files (not PDF - too many unnecessary tokens)
Fill in three sections: instructions, guidelines, style
Write the instructions in English (more precise)
Assign the library to the agent
Example: MS Press Release Writer - a fully configured agent for press releases in the Mike Schwede style.
What Mike misses in Mistral
The Projects feature is missing. Very useful in ChatGPT. Not yet available in Mistral.
Conclusion
Try Mistral. It is a serious option, especially for companies with sensitive data or European compliance requirements.