LONDON, U.K.: HSBC is stepping up its use of artificial intelligence, striking a multi-year agreement with French start-up Mistral AI to embed generative-AI tools throughout the bank's global operations.

The London-listed lender said that it will integrate Mistral's commercial models, along with future upgrades, on a self-hosted basis, combining its own engineering capabilities with the start-up's model-building expertise.

Under the partnership, the two companies will jointly develop AI-driven solutions for a range of functions, including financial analysis, multilingual translation, risk assessment, and tailored client communication.

HSBC said the technology could sharply reduce the time staff spend on time-consuming tasks. Credit and financing teams, for instance, will be able to process complex, document-heavy transactions far more quickly than before.

The bank already uses hundreds of AI applications across fraud detection, transaction monitoring, compliance, and customer service. It expects the Mistral tie-up to further speed innovation cycles and support the rollout of new AI-powered products.

The move comes as financial institutions around the world increasingly compete to integrate generative AI despite ongoing concerns around data privacy and governance. HSBC said it will deploy Mistral's tools within its existing responsible-AI framework to ensure transparency and safeguard customer data.