TotalEnergies Partners with French AI Startup Mistral to Boost Energy Efficiency

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TotalEnergies, the French oil and gas major, announced a new partnership with French AI startup Mistral to develop digital tools aimed at enhancing the performance of its energy business and industrial assets, improving energy efficiency, and reducing environmental impact.

The collaboration has already commenced with joint meetings at the companies’ existing facilities, though no new physical laboratory will be created. Together, they plan to develop an AI-powered assistant to support TotalEnergies in project development, operational decision-making to lower emissions, and improving customer support solutions focused on energy savings.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne highlighted AI’s transformative potential for energy systems and underscored the partnership as part of the company’s broader ambition to foster a European technological ecosystem.

Mistral recently launched Europe’s first AI reasoning model, designed to use logical thinking to generate responses, positioning itself among the leading AI innovators alongside U.S. and Chinese competitors.

Since 2022, TotalEnergies has actively engaged with various AI startups to enhance profitability and operational efficiency in its electricity business. Past initiatives include algorithm-driven predictive maintenance of wind turbines, optimization of electricity trading via advanced weather modeling, and improved digital planning for renewable energy farms.

Additionally, TotalEnergies experimented with Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot by providing employees six months’ access to identify the most effective applications within the company, as revealed by Pouyanne at the AI Action Summit in Paris earlier this year.

Telus Moves to Fully Acquire Digital Unit to Boost AI Control

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Canadian telecom giant Telus announced Thursday its intention to acquire all outstanding shares of its digital services subsidiary, Telus Digital, aiming for greater control over its artificial intelligence capabilities. The offer values Telus Digital at approximately $946.8 million, with Telus proposing to buy the remaining shares at $3.40 each—a 15% premium over the subsidiary’s last closing price.

Currently, Telus owns about 57% of the digital unit directly and through other entities. The subsidiary’s U.S.-listed shares have declined over 24% this year, underperforming compared to Telus’s parent company stock, which has gained nearly 19%.

This acquisition bid highlights Telus’ strategic move to strengthen operational integration of Telus Digital, which supports businesses in adopting AI and developing data strategies amid a global push toward AI technology adoption. CEO Darren Entwistle emphasized that full ownership would accelerate AI capability enhancement and SaaS transformation across Telus’s operations.

In a related investment push, Telus revealed plans last month to invest over C$70 billion (US$51.4 billion) in expanding Canada’s network infrastructure over the next five years, including the launch of two new AI-focused data centers.

Barclays is advising Telus on the transaction.

Czech Government Faces No-Confidence Vote Amid Bitcoin Payment Scandal

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The Czech government is set to face a no-confidence vote on Tuesday following allegations of corruption tied to a $45 million bitcoin payment accepted from an ex-convict, opposition parties announced Thursday. Despite the ruling centre-right coalition holding a parliamentary majority, the move could damage its prospects ahead of the October 3-4 general election, where the opposition currently leads.

Justice Minister Pavel Blazek resigned on May 31 after accepting the bitcoin payment on behalf of the state but denied any illegal conduct. Opposition groups, including the ANO party led by former Prime Minister Andrej Babis, have demanded Prime Minister Petr Fiala step down, calling the transaction a clear sign of corruption.

ANO vice-chair Alena Schillerova said on social media that filing the no-confidence motion was their only option. The bitcoin donation, totaling 468 bitcoins, came from a man who served prison time between 2017 and 2021 for crimes including drug trafficking, fraud, and illegal weapons possession.

Critics argue that Blazek may have inadvertently legitimized the ex-convict’s assets instead of involving law enforcement to properly secure them. Current opinion polls show Babis’s ANO party leading significantly over Fiala’s governing coalition.