Reflection AI and Mistral launch open models to challenge China's lead

Reflection AI and Mistral each unveiled new open-source models this week, aiming to beat other Western open models, though they trail top Chinese and closed systems on prominent benchmarks.

Reflection CEO Misha Laskin says the target is regulated industries and governments that cannot or will not use Chinese models.

The outcome depends on whether businesses and agencies accept less advanced models for some tasks in exchange for lower cost and more control.