Spanish ‘soonicorn’ Multiverse Computing releases free compressed AI model

Large language models have a problem: they are large. Multiverse Computing, a Spanish startup, is addressing this issue with compressed models that aim to close the gap between what frontier models can do and what companies can actually afford to deploy. 

The secret sauce is CompactifAI, a compression technology inspired by quantum computing that the Basque company has applied to models released by OpenAI. As of today, developers can access a newer version of Multiverse’s HyperNova 60B model for free on Hugging Face. The company also plans to open-source more compressed models in 2026 to support a wider range of use cases.

According to Multiverse, its models are smaller, but nearly as potent and accurate. At 32GB, HyperNova 60B is roughly half the size of the model it derives from — OpenAI’s gpt-oss-120B — while boasting lower memory usage and lower latency. The updated version, called HyperNova 60B 2602, now also better supports ​​tool calling and agentic coding, where inference costs can be high.

One of the competitors Multiverse claims to have beaten with HyperNova 60B is Mistral Large 3, one of the models released by French decacorn Mistral AI. But beyond the technological rivalry, the two European AI companies also have a lot in common.

Like Mistral, Multiverse has expanded beyond its home country, with offices in the United States, Canada, and across Europe. Both companies also have enterprise customers. In Multiverse’s case, it names Iberdrola, Bosch, and the Bank of Canada.

And while Multiverse is not officially a unicorn yet, it is now rumored to be raising a fresh €500 million funding round at a valuation of more than €1.5 billion. In a statement shared with TechCrunch, the company confirmed that active discussions with potential investors towards a new funding round are ongoing, but added it would be premature to comment on valuation or funding size at this stage. Multiverse also declined to comment on reports that its annual recurring revenue (ARR) reached €100 million in January.

If confirmed, this would still only be a fraction of OpenAI’s $20 billion ARR; but not that far from Mistral’s, whose ARR soared to over $400 million, owing in part to growing demand for alternatives to U.S. tech. Similarly, Multiverse positions itself in its latest press release as a company that can “deliver sovereign solutions across the AI stack.” 

These geopolitical undertones recently helped Multiverse secure a collaboration with the regional government of Aragón, in northeastern Spain. The Spanish Agency for Technological Transformation (SETT) also participated in the AI startup’s $215 million Series B last year. Since its inception, Multiverse has also benefited from support from the Basque region — which could very soon count its first unicorn.