Dutch semiconductor maker ASML, one of Europe’s tech giants, has become the largest investor in Paris-based Mistral. The investment reinforces Mistral’s position as the continent’s most valuable AI startup.
The French firm, which is often described as Europe’s biggest hope against American and Chinese rivals such as OpenAI and DeepSeek, has raised €1.7 billion ($2 billion) in the latest investment round.
ASML led the investment with a €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) financial injection, making it Mistral’s main shareholder with a stake of about 11%.
The investment now makes Mistral, founded just two years ago by former Google DeepMind and Meta engineers, Europe’s most valuable AI startup.
At a valuation of €11.7 billion, it is still worth a fraction of its American counterparts. According to the news agency Reuters, OpenAI is eyeing a $500 billion valuation in a potential stock sale.
However, the investment will be seen as a boost to Europe’s tech ambitions after concerns that Mistral, its AI poster child, was not growing fast enough in terms of market share and revenue, fueling speculation that it could be sold, potentially to Apple.
Arthur Mensch, Mistral’s chief executive, hailed the deal with ASML, saying that it “brings two technology leaders operating in the same value chain.”
“We have the ambition to help ASML and its numerous partners solve current and future engineering challenges through AI, and ultimately to advance the full semiconductor and AI value chain,” Mensch said.
ASML was “proud to enter a strategic partnership” with Mistral, according to the chipmaker’s chief executive, Christophe Fouquet.
“The collaboration between Mistral AI and ASML aims to generate clear benefits for ASML customers through innovative products and solutions enabled by AI, and will offer potential for joint research to address future opportunities,” Fouquet said.
Mistral earlier secured the financial backing of DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, and NVIDIA.
“ASML’s move to become the largest shareholder in Mistral clearly shows that Europe is trying its best to build a self-sufficient tech ecosystem,” said Roman Eloshvili, founder of a UK-based AI startup ComplyControl.
“I think this deal matters because it reduces reliance on US or Chinese firms and shows that Europe may have its own champions,” Eloshvili said, noting that “building scale at home is now part of Europe’s AI strategy.”
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