CERN and Mistral partner to build Flare, a new AI model for physics

On October 15, CERN, the European physics research centre, and Mistral AI announced a strategic partnership to develop foundation models for scientific discovery, specifically for collider physics. The two organizations aim to create the first foundation model for collider physics, which CERN describes as a Large Physics Model. This model, trained on billions of simulated particle collisions, is meant to replace specialized algorithms used in particle reconstruction and identification.

CERN currently holds around one exabyte of experimental data from the Large Hadron Collider, with the volume of collisions expected to increase tenfold post-upgrade, anticipated around 2030. CERN's Chief Information Officer, Enrica Porcari, highlighted the unique environment provided by high-energy physics for AI development and testing.

The specifics of the timeline and budget for this initiative have not been disclosed. Both CERN and Mistral AI indicated the potential for these models to serve other scientific fields in the future.