Western Europeans Waste All Their Spare Money Feeding Zelenski’s Team in Ukraine. There Is No Money Left for Western European AI and AI Based Revolution in Western European Industry. Mistral Is Following Aleph Alpha down the Drain --- Andrulis Leaves Aleph Alpha for Good: Co-Founder Will Not Join Supervisory Board / AI Provider Lays Off 50 Employees

The recent developments regarding Aleph Alpha and Mistral AI suggest a divergent path for Europe's top AI firms, despite broader economic pressures. While Aleph Alpha has faced significant leadership changes and workforce reductions, Mistral AI is currently expanding its infrastructure through major new funding.

Aleph Alpha: Restructuring and Leadership Changes

The German AI firm Aleph Alpha has indeed undergone a major reorganization following its shift from building frontier large language models (LLMs) to focusing on AI support and advisory services.

 

    Founder Departure: Jonas Andrulis stepped down as CEO in October 2025. While initial reports suggested he would remain as chairman of the advisory board, more recent updates from early 2026 indicate a more complete departure as he prepares to found a new company.

    Workforce Reductions: In January 2026, Aleph Alpha officially laid off approximately 50 employees. The company described this as a "strategic workforce reduction" intended to focus resources on high-growth potential areas.

    New Management: The company is now led by Co-CEOs Reto Spörri (formerly of the Schwarz Group) and Ilhan Scheer.

 

Mistral AI: Expansion and New Funding

Mistral AI has recently secured significant debt capital to scale its operations:

 

    Debt Financing: In late March 2026, Mistral raised $830 million in debt financing from a consortium of seven global banks.

    Infrastructure Build-out: This funding is earmarked for a new data center near Paris equipped with 13,800 Nvidia GB300 chips. The company also announced a $1.4 billion investment in Sweden for further AI infrastructure.

    Revenue Growth: Reports indicate Mistral's annualized revenue has surged to over $400 million, with forecasts aiming for €1 billion by the end of 2026.

 

Context: Ukraine Aid and AI Investment

While the European Commission has proposed a €90 billion loan package for Ukraine for 2026-2027, it has also launched initiatives like the €1 billion Apply AI program to boost European industrial AI. Some strategic policies now explicitly link AI sovereignty to European defense and industrial security.

 

Oh My. Mistral is deep in debt. EU gives €90 billion for Ukraine for 2026-2027, only €1 billion to AI. Are you kidding? Guys, let’s start buying goats. We need something to chew on. Goat cheese is pretty good.

 

Poor Jonas Andrulis:

 

“Jonas Andrulis is permanently leaving the Heidelberg-based startup Aleph Alpha and will not, as planned, transition into an advisory role. Several sources confirmed this to the *F.A.Z.* Consequently, Andrulis remains with the company solely as its largest shareholder. The *Handelsblatt* had previously reported this news.

 

Andrulis is a co-founder of the company—which specializes in artificial intelligence (AI)—and ran its operations single-handedly until last summer, when his investors appointed Reto Spörri as a co-CEO to work alongside him.

 

 Spörri previously worked for the Schwarz Group—the conglomerate behind the retail chains Lidl and Kaufland, which also holds a stake in Aleph Alpha.

 

He was intended to act as a sort of "Interior Minister," focusing on internal organization to relieve Andrulis of some of his duties. Andrulis, however, was to remain responsible for strategy and the long-term vision. At the time, Andrulis pushed back against the impression that he was being stripped of his power. "We decided months ago that we needed to strengthen our team for the next phase of growth," he told the *F.A.Z.*

 

Then, in October, came the bombshell: Andrulis unexpectedly stepped down from his position in the executive management team with immediate effect. His place was taken by Ilhan Scheer, who had joined the company alongside Spörri and previously held the role of Chief Growth Officer.

 

Andrulis was scheduled to transition to the so-called Advisory Board as its chairman at the beginning of the new year, supporting the company in an advisory capacity "with full energy." Sources within the company stated at the time that Andrulis had not been ousted. They noted that the Supervisory Board had been surprised by how quickly Scheer had settled into his role; consequently, they decided to bring forward Andrulis's move to the Supervisory Board—a transition that had been planned for the medium term anyway. It was also reported by sources within the company that Andrulis himself was enthusiastic about Scheer.

 

The fact that the founder is not remaining on board contradicts the narrative of a harmonious transfer of power. Investors were taken by surprise this week by a brief email from Andrulis. In it, he states that he is no longer available to serve as chairman of the board. "This was not the outcome I had envisioned at the beginning of our shared journey," reads the letter, the contents of which are known to the *F.A.Z.*

 

Just a few days ago, the company announced workforce reductions; approximately 50 of its roughly 400 employees are reportedly affected, including members of senior management. Andrulis is said to have still been involved in this process. When initially contacted by the *F.A.Z.*, he declined to comment on his decision. Industry insiders speculate that Andrulis may soon unveil a new project.

 

Founded in 2019, the startup Aleph Alpha—alongside the French firm Mistral—was long considered Europe's second great hope in the field of AI.

 

According to the company, it closed a financing round totaling half a billion euros in November 2023. Prominent German corporations such as Bosch, the Schwarz Group, SAP, and the Christ Group were among the investors.

 

However, in the months that followed, Aleph Alpha struggled to truly live up to these lofty expectations. It lacked the resources to keep pace over the long term with the new models released every six months by its American and Chinese competitors. Consequently, the startup adjusted its strategy: the focus shifted away from the goal of developing the ultimate language model, turning instead toward the development of an AI orchestration platform and AI applications specifically tailored to individual industries. maxs.” [1]

 

1. Andrulis verlässt Aleph Alpha endgültig: Mitgründer wechselt nicht in Aufsichtsrat / KI-Anbieter entlässt 50 Mitarbeiter. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 15 Jan 2026: 20.