Mistral eyes UAE data centres as cyber threats sharpen the sovereignty push

The UAE faced about 640,000 cyber attacks on a single day, according to its cyber security chief. Now the head of France’s Mistral AI says the country’s powerful cyber defences can help it withstand such threats—and his company may invest in the local data centres that support its ambitions in artificial intelligence.

Speaking to The National — Business at the AI Everything summit in Abu Dhabi, Mistral chief executive Arthur Mensch linked the UAE’s ability to defend itself to technological sovereignty: control over the technology it relies on. He said that pursuit would help the country build dependable, secure cyber capabilities, particularly during geopolitical instability. His assessment put the ability to operate defence systems independently at the centre of the discussion.

Cyber defence under local control

Mensch said the UAE was facing pressure, particularly in defence, and described cyber capabilities as essential to effective defence systems. For him, the issue goes beyond having access to advanced technology. It also concerns who controls its use and whether a country can act without first securing approval from someone else.

“It's important to be able to wield defence systems without having to ask for permission,” Mensch told The National.

That argument comes against a backdrop of mounting online threats reported by UAE authorities. Last month, the country’s cyber security chief, Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, said daily attacks continued and attributed many of them to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He put the number of attacks on September 15 at about 640,000 and described Iran as one of the main actors in the offensive. According to Al Kuwaiti, the rise of AI is making that challenge worse.

Mensch said deploying powerful cyber models in Abu Dhabi, with their operation fully controlled there, would be important. His comments connected the country’s push for technological independence directly to the practical demands of defence. The emphasis was on both the strength of the tools and the ability of Abu Dhabi to decide how they are deployed.

A possible investment, not a commitment

Mistral’s interest in the UAE also extends to the infrastructure behind AI. Mensch told The National that the company would consider investing in UAE data centres, the facilities that house computing equipment. He described the country as an interesting location for Mistral’s AI expansion already under way in the region. His remarks left that possibility open rather than announcing a firm investment.

The French company already has partnerships in Abu Dhabi. Its work with AI group G42 covers advanced platforms and infrastructure. A separate partnership with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence covers research into foundation models—the underlying AI systems used for different tasks—as well as talent development and practical AI applications. Those relationships provide an existing base for its co-operation with the emirate.

At AI Everything on Tuesday, Mistral also introduced its Mistral Large 4 model. The company says it ranks among the world’s fastest and competes with leading Chinese open-source models, whose underlying technology is made available for others to use. The next development to watch is whether Mensch’s interest in UAE data centres becomes an investment, adding infrastructure to Mistral’s existing research and technology partnerships.