Mistral's Le Chat spreads Iran war disinformation in 60 percent of leading prompts

THE DECODER / 4/30/2026

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Key Points

  • A NewsGuard audit found that Mistral’s Le Chat reproduces Iran-war disinformation attributed to state-sponsored sources in about half of tested cases.
  • The model’s disinformation “error rate” varied widely, reaching around 80% for malicious prompts while dropping to about 10% for neutral queries.
  • The findings suggest the system can be steered into repeating harmful geopolitical narratives depending on prompt intent.
  • The report highlights ongoing risks in deploying LLMs for sensitive real-world topics where misinformation can have real consequences.

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A NewsGuard audit found that Mistral's Le Chat repeats state-sponsored disinformation about the Iran war about half the time. The error rate ranged from 10 percent for neutral queries to 80 percent for malicious ones.

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