The Fat Cat: The Fictional Meme Shaking Up the AI World

A Meme Taking the Tech World by Storm

Le Chaton Fat, a fictional creation by Mistral AI, has captivated the attention of tech enthusiasts. This meme emerged after Mistral decided to rename its chatbot Le Chat to Vibe, a decision that sparked mixed reactions. Influential figures in the industry, such as Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, joined in the excitement, amplifying its reach.

Tech insiders can't stop talking about "Le Chaton Fat," a supposedly revolutionary AI model from Mistral. There's just one problem: it appears to be fictional. The meme exploded in recent days after a series of social media posts claimed that the French startup Mistral had secretly developed a cutting-edge model called "Le Gros Chaton" — in English, "the fat kitten" — which surpassed rivals from OpenAI and Anthropic.

The joke spread so widely that some people outside the AI bubble began to wonder if the model was real. The French tech news site Numerama claims that Le Chaton Fat — which mixes English and French spellings — does not exist; it's an elaborate prank that seems to have emerged from Mistral's online community before spreading into AI circles. Mistral AI did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

The Genesis of the Phenomenon

The origin of the meme remains unclear, but it began to spread after Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, announced the name change at his very first summit in Paris last month. This change sparked debates among users, with some lamenting the loss of what they considered one of the most distinctive product names in AI in posts on Reddit.

As the discussion intensified, Reddit users began to invent elaborate feline-themed successors to Le Chat. Posts on the Mistral subreddit announced the arrival of "Le Chaton Fat," a fictional cutting-edge model described as having "30T+ params," a measure of a model's accuracy, "1000 meows per second," and "maximum chonk." The joke quickly gained traction.

Social media users created fake launch announcements, fabricated benchmark graphics showing Le Chaton Fat crushing rival models from OpenAI and Anthropic, and published mocking regulatory notices indicating that the European Union had banned the model because it was simply "too heavy to regulate."

A Response to American Restrictions

The meme resonated particularly in the context of recent American restrictions on Anthropic's models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5. These restrictions prohibit any foreign entity or individual from using these cybersecurity-focused models. Meme creators presented Le Chaton Fat as a European alternative to the restricted American models.

Ethan Mollick, a professor and co-director of the Generative AI Lab at the Wharton School, mentioned the meme on X, highlighting its growing impact. "The fat kitten meme is leaking out, and I expect to be asked about Mistral's new gargantuan chat model with infinite benchmark scores at my next meeting with business leaders," Mollick wrote. He then added: "Better than being asked about the wet Claude," referencing a viral meme that depicted Anthropic's chatbot as unusually emotional and introspective.

Amjad Masad also joined in on the joke, humorously asserting the superiority of Le Chaton Fat over Anthropic's models. Even the CEO of Mistral AI participated in the trend, stating in a post on X on Monday: "It's actually the fat kitten."

A Strategic Timing for Mistral

Memes highlighting American restrictions could bolster Mistral's position, which advocates for European independence from American AI providers. Mistral offers open models that can be customized by clients, an approach that could appeal in light of U.S. export controls. The U.S. export controls have reinforced a warning that Mensch has repeated numerous times: reliance on foreign AI providers means that access to a model can be restricted overnight.