20 comments

  • teekert 2 hours ago
    Context: After careful research our organization preferred a European partner with good central privacy controls. We landed on Mistral, after being disappointed that the Pro tier was opt-in to training on prompts by default we switched up to the Team tier which provides an organization dashboard with some relevant settings. As we did that Mistral changed these options and the Team tier was now also opt-in by default and at the same time seemed to have lost the ability to centrally disable training on prompts for your entire organization. This even caused some of our (testing) prompts to be used for training (which Mistral removed after we expressed our disappointment).

    For some time these pages conflicted with what our users reported (they said that in contrast to what I stated to our management they found they were opted into training on prompts by default as per their own privacy page). Mistral just now corrected their docs. I'm not sure how long the conflicting situation has lasted, but at least for several days.

    For contrast: Claude disables training on prompts for organizations starting from the 18 euro tier [0]. As a European I'm disappointed.

    [0] https://claude.com/pricing#team-&-enterprise

    • throwaway89201 1 hour ago
      > and at the same time seemed to have lost the ability to centrally disable training on prompts for your entire organization

      There is a toggle on https://admin.mistral.ai that allows you to disable training for both Vibe and Console/API for your entire organisation. And I'm not on the enterprise plan. I've disabled training the first time I created an account, and it has remained that way.

      You story is also very confusing due to the wording around "opt-in by default" and "disappointed [about] opt-in to training" (most people would be disappointed about an opt-out) and probably conveys the wrong message to most people.

      • teekert 37 minutes ago
        I don't have that toggle (but could indeed have sworn I saw it earlier).

        Sorry, I have always thought that "opting in" is, "opting for the presented option" and opting out is "opting out of it", so opting out [of sharing prompts for training] is choosing to not share, but apparently I was wrong my whole life. I'm not a native speaker, and I think most people here (in my country) would interpret this the way I do? Weird but TIL.

        • throwaway89201 3 minutes ago
          > I don't have that toggle (but could indeed have sworn I saw it earlier).

          You don't see "Allow the use of your interactions with Vibe to train Mistral’s AI models" at https://admin.mistral.ai/vibe/privacy ?

          And "Allow the use of your API calls to train Mistral’s AI models" at https://admin.mistral.ai/plateforme/privacy ?

        • bee_rider 23 minutes ago
          FWIW I don’t find what you wrote confusing, but I do think it is following a sort of… bad convention that some companies have been pushing.

          Opt-in and opt-out describe the nature of the choice that you make. “Opt” means to choose (apparently it is a French word we stole). Opt-in means you have to proactively choose to be in. Opt-out means you have to proactively choose to be out. “Opt-in by default” is an overly verbose way of saying “opt-out.”

          In either case it describes the choice that you need to proactively make to override the default behavior.

          Edit: I should also say that it is a “known point of contention” where pro-privacy people have been pushing back on this phrasing. So, you have probably accidentally stumbled into an ongoing discussion, which is why some of the comments might be unexpectedly prickly.

        • Miraltar 31 minutes ago
          If you opt in it means that by default you're not in and you chose that option. So if you're now included in training by default, then it's an opt-out feature as in you can opt out of it.
          • teekert 25 minutes ago
            Idk, feels like my brain does not have the model for this, this does not exist in my language afaik haha.
        • tedggh 28 minutes ago
          You said it correctly, there’s no confusion.
    • lukan 1 hour ago
      "For contrast: Claude disables training on prompts for organizations starting from the 18 euro tier "

      In theory also for individuals?

      At least I have that toggle to deactivate that. But how would I ever know if they actually respect that?

      • kccqzy 1 hour ago
        If you don’t trust the company to keep their promise, don’t use their products.
        • LeBit 34 minutes ago
          How can you trust any company?

          The only company you could think of trusting is one where an external , independent auditor is doing its work.

        • RussianCow 53 minutes ago
          I don't trust any company with their word on anything. Luckily, privacy policies are legally binding.
          • nullsanity 10 minutes ago
            Why does that matter? Legally binding just means "slightly more expensive when we get caught"
      • danelski 53 minutes ago
        My 20 EUR Claude (individual) had the training on by default.
      • tedggh 24 minutes ago
        Always assume and act as they won’t honor it.
      • warkdarrior 58 minutes ago
        How do you know an LLM provider does not kill puppies every time you send a prompt longer than 14 words?
        • lukan 48 minutes ago
          Because they have no incentive as a company to do that? But do have a strong incentive to learn from user input. (Most cutting edge features are developed private - very valuable to get that into your tool)

          And getting the data is not hard, they already have it. Risky is indeed a bit making use of that data, as that requires at least some humans (as potential whistleblowers). But you don't even have to tell them, where the data came from.

          Whether they do it? No idea, I assume not, but I see a risk.

    • summarity 1 hour ago
      “Opt in by default” would mean that it is not enabled by default. Do you mean opt out?
      • teekert 1 hour ago
        You are "opting in to sharing your prompts for training", by default in this case. My slider says: "Allow the use of your interactions with Vibe to train Mistral's AI models.", it is on by default for everyone on the Team plan, the admin can't centrally turn it off anymore, and any user can toggle it when they want to. This all changed last week.

        I know I'm naive but I expect that when I pay, this stuff is simply off, so I was already surprised by the Pro plan. But I did look out for it there, because Anthropic made this switch some time ago.

        • nozzlegear 21 minutes ago
          > You are "opting in to sharing your prompts for training", by default in this case.

          I understand what you're saying here, but maybe "turned on by default" is less confusing for everyone.

        • KPGv2 1 hour ago
          > You are "opting in to sharing your prompts for training", by default in this case.

          The English term for that is "opt out" not "opt in." To opt is to choose. If something is on by default, you have not opted in. You were forced in, and turning it off means you must opt out. (I.e., choose to be out.)

          normally I wouldn't care about a mistake like this, except that opt in/out are very important concepts in software development and hacker culture. And it reversed the meaning of the original comment in a highly confusing, relevant way.

          • jrave 56 minutes ago
            as another non-native speaker, i think that while the person you're answering to didn't use the default way of expressing this in the english-speaking world, i did understand what they meant, i think they do know what opting means and i think the reasoning is this: when they say data collection is "opt in" by default they mean that by choosing to use a product, you are opting into your data being collected (at the same time). on the other hand, native speakers saying something is "opt out" describes the options or toggles one has available in the default case - when something is toggled "true", you (only) have the choice to toggle it of. so english speakers talk about the controls one has to CHANGE the status quo.
          • brendoelfrendo 24 minutes ago
            They said "opt in to training on prompts by default," which is coherent English and perfectly fine. The phrases "opt in" and "opt out" will always be contextual based on what is being opted, so it really falls to the reader to pay attention to that context. Please don't give English language advice as though you are an authority; there is not a rule of the English language that would make their usage unacceptable.
  • saaaaaam 1 hour ago
    This is a hugely misleading editorialised title.

    The page title is "Can I opt out of my input or output data being used for training".

    Right at the top of the page it says "In certain cases, your input and output data (such as conversations, documents, and other user-provided content) may be included in Mistral’s model training programs. You retain full control over this processing and have the right to opt out of these programs at any time."

    • kieranmaine 24 minutes ago
      Agreed. I read the title as they would start using my data for training and I couldn't opt-out. After looking at the page and checking my app (I have Pro subscription) it seems like I can opt-out and my initial opt-out when I subscribed was preserved.
    • heaney-555 27 minutes ago
      This is the case for all the major AI providers. Training collection is on by default, but you can opt out.
      • teekert 22 minutes ago
        "No model training on your content by default" [0]

        It's not the default on any Team plans and didn't used to be at Mistral (until last week or so). The team plan has a central admin role and page, and "seats".

        And if it was the default, then I'd still expect a big button to turn it off for all seats, and not have to ask all user separately. But this changed over night and that button is not there. Although I expect it used to be, because some people here report that they have it.

        https://claude.com/pricing#team-&-enterprise

  • Diti 1 hour ago
    This gets posted literally moments before I was about to pay them after ditching Claude. Thank you! I hate data collection in paid products.

    I think I will be using Kagi Ultimate for the inference UI, so the data is somewhat anonymized before being collected.

    • teiferer 24 minutes ago
      > I hate data collection in paid products.

      You can opt out in this one.

    • evanjrowley 1 hour ago
      My best experience with Mistral has been with their expensive GLM-5.2 model. It's actually developed by Z.ai, but unlike Z.ai, the GLM-5.2 at Mistral can be used at a low price without training on your prompts - but only if you remember to hit the privacy toggle in their admin settings.

      Planning code changes with GLM-5.2 using a Mistral Studio API key and implementing code changes using the Mistral Vibe API key has worked well for me. At my basic subscription tier, Vibe will share data with Mistral. It works for me because, when it comes to privacy, I care less about the actual code and more about the planning / high-level stuff.

      • nozzlegear 17 minutes ago
        > My best experience with Mistral has been with their expensive GLM-5.2 model. It's actually developed by Z.ai, but unlike Z.ai, the GLM-5.2 at Mistral can be used at a low price without training on your prompts - but only if you remember to hit the privacy toggle in their admin settings.

        Same here, actually. I'm American but have had a Mistral sub to supplement local models. The Mistral models, IMO, just aren't very good, and I was about to cancel my sub until I saw they added GLM.

    • throwaway89201 1 hour ago
      I'm really hoping Mistral will succeed with their open models, so I'm a bit biased, but I don't have any affiliation. This submit is a bit of well-meaning but confused scaremongering however.

      Mistral has had, and continues to have, a toggle in the admin settings that permanently disables training on your data. The option has not been removed, and previous opt-outs are still honored. As far as I know, Mistral always trained on your data by default except for the enterprise plan, with the option to disable it on all plans, and with the option for organizations to make the choice for all your users.

      Kagi Ultimate still uses mostly closed models by OpenAI / Anthropic, etc.

    • saaaaaam 1 hour ago
      You can opt out.
    • rvz 36 minutes ago
      Just run your LLMs locally instead of using external providers.

      Using Claude, Mistral and the rest of them is not going to solve your issue with data collection.

  • matthieu_bl 44 minutes ago
    Summary of the different scenarios

    Service: Vibe Plan: Non-Enterprise Default: Opted in Opt-out possible? Yes

    Service: Vibe Plan: Enterprise Default: Opted out Opt-out possible? Yes (admin-managed)

    Service: Mistral Studio/API Plan: Not specified Default: Not stated, I assume opted in Opt-out possible? Yes

  • maxdo 1 hour ago
    It’s a spyware, but a sovereign one
    • kieranmaine 29 minutes ago
      How so? I've opted out of using my data for training.
    • zoobab 1 hour ago
      What do you expect from running on "someone else computer?"
      • r_lee 55 minutes ago
        a service provided to you for the money you paid? just like with any other business?
  • maz1b 1 hour ago
    I could be mistaken, but wasn't Mistral openly championing themselves as a company and EU option that wouldn't do this/didn't do this?
    • whizzter 1 hour ago
      Maybe they realized that they were falling behind too much? To me it seems like user-feedback on bad descisions by the AI once it's trained to a basic level is among the most important signals in tuning the model to perform better.
      • danelski 50 minutes ago
        That's what I believe. Once you have scanned every passive source available, using the user conversations to e.g. find common paths to a solution and shortcut them would seem natural.
        • whizzter 4 minutes ago
          Paths and shortcuts isn't the most important part here I think, rather negative signals about unfitting choices is more important, do we use algorithm/library/etc XYZ in this situation or not, the developers using it would provide the context suitability of options on a more finegrained level than resulting (semi-)public artifacts provide.
    • mhitza 13 minutes ago
      You must have not been keeping up with the times :)

      Their big play this year was to write a "whitepaper" on the future state of EU economy, which is something that they'd like to hand of to EU leaders and part of that proposal was some kind of mandatory 10% sovereign AI spend, or some other nonsense like that.

      They are, at least, trying to make big enterprise (with tailored models, custom integration) and government policy plays.

      That just goes to show you how ineffective they are as well at making AI click as a usecase.

      And when they don't get ahead by their own terms they copy what they see ongoing with US AI labs. Le Chat, and Vibe.

  • htrp 25 minutes ago
    LeChat when it was launched as a consumer product was always going to be a data acquisition play.

    This is them just making it very clear and disclosing as per European rules.

  • segmondy 1 hour ago
    There are so models that beats all of Mistral models, plus you can run many of them locally. Why would anyone run Mistral?
    • villish 1 hour ago
      To have at least a choice of using a European trained model. Downloadable weights is not open source. Mistral is able to respond to any regulatory queries about training data and concerns.
    • jnurmine 1 hour ago
      To be honest, I have a hard time noticing differences with Claude (in Kiro) and Mistral Vibe, at least with what I use them for. They simply feel like talking to the exact same thing.
    • perks_12 1 hour ago
      The OCR stuff is quite usable. Their models perform good at some very basic tasks, so I use them to diversify. But their current model lineup is really terrible.
    • KPGv2 1 hour ago
      Possibly because Mistral is a French-based company, so EU companies can cut the American umbilical cord a bit more.
      • A_D_E_P_T 53 minutes ago
        EU companies can download GLM or Kimi-K3 and get way better performance, though? I don't see any case for using a Mistral model when much better open models exist.
        • brendoelfrendo 29 minutes ago
          Because not everyone has the infrastructure to run that with better performance? Anyway, Mistral serves GLM 5.2 through their global and European endpoints, so if you wanted to leverage their services and use a more powerful open model, that seems to be an option.
  • f6v 1 hour ago
    Same company that has a partnership with Saudis, btw.
  • vb-8448 50 minutes ago
    My bet is that mistral models will suddenly start to shine.
  • perks_12 1 hour ago
    I assume they do this no before releasing new models. It feels like they expect higher user influx from their new models.
  • danelski 56 minutes ago
    Most commenters here clutching their pearls as if Claude and Gemini Pro didn't do it already. In the latter you (as a paying customer) can't even store the chat history unless you agree to their 'improvement of services'. Do you have all your accounts paid for by the enterprise or you never check the settings?
  • romanovcode 42 minutes ago
    I'm sure that the 3 users they have are very pissed about this news.
  • ylisav 42 minutes ago
    Very disappointing, but who doesn't train on user data? It's the only moat they have
    • mhitza 9 minutes ago
      I had the option, and had it disable everywhere, manually. The only one I didn't use, at all, is Anthropics service because of iffy Dario aura and their terms of service. Where is training in user data enforced and not possible to opt out?
  • krunck 1 hour ago
    Very disappointing. I really get the sense that all AI companies and anti-privacy parasites on society.
  • DerDerDaIst 1 hour ago
    Oh come on. So you should be fine with this because "hey we're the friendly europeans..."?
  • ex1fm3ta 1 hour ago
    I mean they all do it right ? Mistral is just the first one to publicly say it.
  • chris_explicare 44 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • floki165 1 hour ago
    Taking away the ability to centrally enforce an opt-out across an organization is a massive red flag.

    You can't reasonably expect every individual employee on a Team plan to remember to dig into their personal settings and flip a privacy toggle. For any company dealing with sensitive IP or GDPR-compliant data, this basically makes the Team tier unusable.

    • throwaway89201 1 hour ago
      This isn't the case. There's a toggle on https://admin.mistral.ai that allows you to disable training for both Vibe and Console/API for your entire organization, I just checked.
    • shujip 1 hour ago
      Yes. If the privacy control only exists per user, it isn't a control for a team.

      Defaults matter more than the blog post. "You can opt out" is not the same product as "the org can actually enforce opt out."

  • r_lee 1 hour ago
    European innovation right here

    you can't make this shit up