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Meet France’s First AI Billionaires 💸

France now has its first “AI billionaires.”

Yawn, another tech billionaire? But the real story isn’t their money, it’s what they symbolize.

Paris-based Mistral AI has just raised nearly $2 billion, led by Dutch chip giant ASML, catapulting its valuation to about $13.5 billion. The three co-founders, former Google DeepMind and Meta researchers, are now billionaires on paper.

On the surface, this might sound like another startup funding headline. But here’s why it matters:

• Europe’s first real AI champion. Until now, the AI race has been dominated by the US (OpenAI, Anthropic) and China (Baidu, Tencent). Mistral gives Europe a serious player of its own.

• The chip + AI connection. ASML isn’t just any investor. It’s the only company in the world that makes the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines needed to produce the most advanced chips. 😲 By tying up with Mistral, Europe links its strongest hardware company with its fastest-rising AI firm.

• Sovereignty, not just hype. French President Emmanuel Macron has openly pushed for “AI sovereignty.” This deal turns that ambition into something tangible: a homegrown ecosystem where Europe controls both the tools (chips) and the intelligence (AI models).

Mistral already has $1.6 billion in contracts and offices across Europe, the US, and Asia.

With ASML now its largest shareholder, it’s Europe’s best bet to carve out independence in a world where tech power has been concentrated in Silicon Valley and Beijing.

How Japan Plans to Care for 36M Seniors

Japan is staring down a demographic crunch.

Nearly one in three citizens is over 65, and for every four nursing jobs, there’s only one applicant. With strict immigration rules limiting foreign workers, the country can’t bring in more caregivers.

At the same time, loneliness and isolation among seniors have become so severe that in 2022 the government required local authorities to act. With 36 million elderly people - many at risk of dementia or depression - the pressure is rising fast.

To fill the gap, Japan is turning to robots and AI companions.

• One prototype, AIREC, is being tested as a government-backed caregiver. At 150 kilograms, the robot can roll bedridden patients to prevent bedsores, cook scrambled eggs, fold laundry, and handle other daily tasks. Machines like this are meant to reduce the physical strain on an overworked and shrinking care workforce.

• The push goes beyond chores. Trading giant Kanematsu has partnered with Israel’s Intuition Robotics to bring ElliQ to Japan. ElliQ is an AI companion that chats, remembers past conversations, suggests activities, and reminds users to take medication. It aims to ease not just practical needs but also the epidemic of loneliness.

Why it matters: Japan is betting on tech to care for its aging population. Robots like AIREC and digital companions like ElliQ promise to ease labor shortages, fight loneliness, and offer a blueprint for the rest of the world.

Fancy a Bite of Stress-Free Fish?

In Brazil, researchers are using AI to study the tambaqui, the country’s most widely farmed native fish and a key source of food in the Amazon region.

They found that when tambaqui are stressed, their bodies darken - a sign linked to slower growth and higher risk of disease. By training an AI model on nearly 3,800 images, the team built a tool that can flag stressed fish and even identify those that naturally cope better.

Because stress tolerance can be inherited, this research could guide breeding programs to produce tambaqui that grow faster, stay healthier, and adapt better to farming.

For a species that often ends up grilled, roasted, or in traditional stews across the Amazon, stress-free farming could mean better yields and better food. But is calm, happy fish really that important or are scientists just overthinking it?