It's true that Mistral AI's massive fundraising round could be seen as a strong indicator that the market views the EU AI Act as manageable, perhaps even as a framework that brings regulatory clarity that investors appreciate, bolstering the argument for the Act's viability.
However, this relies too heavily on one very specific success story, implying that a single unicorn's financial strength translates directly to overall market health.
We must remember that while Mistral allocated significant capital, the actual cost of compliance for them was a tiny fraction of their spend, suggesting that the regulatory burden might be far heavier on smaller, less funded entities who don't have billions for compute infrastructure like Mistral did.
For instance, a smaller Belgian AI startup might find the documentation and transparency requirements disproportionately expensive compared to their operating budget, making the Act far less viable for them.