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French artificial intelligence company Mistral AI is in talks to establish a Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka’s Large and Medium Industries Minister M. B. Patil announced. The discussions were held during a meeting with Audrey Herblin Stoop, Vice-President for Global Public Affairs and Communication at Mistral AI, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos.

The proposed centre will follow a phased approach, starting with engineering teams and gradually expanding into advanced research and scientific capabilities. This move is part of Mistral AI’s plans to expand into India and strengthen its global footprint, leveraging the country’s deep pool of AI talent.

Bengaluru, known as India’s Silicon Valley, is home to more than 50 per cent of the country’s artificial intelligence and machine learning workforce, making it an attractive destination for AI companies. The city hosts three artificial intelligence centres of excellence in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science, NASSCOM and other ecosystem partners.

The potential move comes as several of Mistral AI’s rivals accelerate their presence in India. Anthropic is set to open an office in Bengaluru in early 2026, while OpenAI plans to establish its first India office in New Delhi. Founded in 2023, Mistral AI is a fast-growing French AI company known for developing high-performance, accessible and often open-source large language models.

Patil said discussions centred on setting up the Bengaluru centre through a phased approach, beginning with engineering teams and gradually expanding into advanced research and scientific capabilities. He said India’s deep pool of AI talent was a key attraction for Mistral AI, with the company’s delegation expressing interest in leveraging these capabilities as part of its global expansion strategy.

Bengaluru is the second-largest AI talent hub globally and accounts for more than 50 per cent of India’s artificial intelligence and machine learning workforce. Patil added that Karnataka hosts three artificial intelligence centres of excellence in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science, NASSCOM and other ecosystem partners, further strengthening the state’s appeal for AI and frontier technology investments.

Separately, Patil said Sify Technologies is set to inaugurate a new data centre facility in Karnataka shortly, while Bharti Enterprises has also expressed interest in setting up a data centre in the state.