Belfius Develops New Digital Assistant Together with Mistral AI

A few months after an investment in Mistral AI, Belfius announces a strategic partnership with the French AI player.

Before summer, Belfius announced that it invested in Mistral AI. The French startup, which competes with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic, raised 600 million euros from investors including Nvidia, Samsung, Salesforce, and (among others) Belfius.

This investment now results in a closer collaboration for the development of Belfius' new digital assistant. The large bank sets up its own Belfius AI Lab, a team of fifty engineers in our country specializing in AI, who will develop banking solutions.

That team also develops the new digital assistant of Belfius in close cooperation with Mistral AI. This goes beyond simply using the language models or available tools and AI systems from Mistral, which other customers of the AI company can also benefit from. The new AI-driven assistant will be available in 2025.

Many details about the possibilities or functioning of that assistant are not yet available. However, it does remind one of what competitor KBC has been doing for several years with Kate, a digital assistant in the bank's app that helps or informs around financial matters.

Tailored Digital Care

In the same announcement, Belfius also mentions a collaboration with Alan on health insurance. That company offers personalized services for businesses and institutional clients for their employees using AI tools. It is possible to talk to doctors, psychologists, sports coaches, sleep experts, or dietitians via chat or video consultation.

For this collaboration, Alan will expand its Belgian team of 25 people. Belfius also participates in Alan's Series F investment round, where existing investors such as OTPP Temasek, Coatue, Lakestar, Belfius, and others invest a total of 173 million euros in the company, raising its valuation to 4 billion euros.