雅虎香港財經 French AI Firm LightOn Mulls Funding Options Including IPO
(Bloomberg) -- Artificial-intelligence startup LightOn is considering raising new equity financing, including a possible initial public offering in Paris, to capitalize on booming investor interest in AI, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The company could raise tens of millions of euros and is discussing the possibility of an IPO as soon as this summer, the people said, declining to be identified as the process is confidential. No decisions have been made and LightOn could still choose to raise funds privately or not do so at all, the people said.
A LightOn representative declined to comment.
An IPO would be a boost to France’s efforts to develop a robust AI industry that can challenge the US’s dominance in the field. President Emmanuel Macron met with industry leaders last year and again this week, both times including Laurent Daudet, LightOn’s co-chief executive officer.
LightOn, founded in 2016, develops machine learning models and offers services to integrate AI solutions for corporations and governments. The company was selected for the government’s La French Tech 2030 program to bolster promising startups.
LightOn’s pitch involves providing its AI services locally, not via cloud-computing - a method some government agencies prefer. Some of the startup’s engineers were involved in building Falcon, a popular AI model managed out of Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with the company.
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Microsoft Corp. announced €4 billion in investment in French cloud and AI infrastructure this month during Macron’s “Choose France” summit. Paris-based Mistral AI, formed in early 2023 by former engineers at Google’s DeepMind and Meta Platforms Inc., announced a partnership with Microsoft in February.
Macron, asked in an television interview about a hypothetical purchase of Mistral AI by Microsoft, said he would prefer that the company grow independently and that Europe needs more “big players” in the tech sector.
--With assistance from Swetha Gopinath, Albertina Torsoli, Pamela Barbaglia and Mark Bergen.
(Updates to add LightOn declining to comment in third paragraph.)
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