ASML became a major shareholder of "Europe's OpenAI"

ASML invests €1.3 billion in Mistral AI, becoming the largest shareholder of the French AI unicorn.

On Monday, according to media reports, Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML will invest €1.3 billion (USD 1.5 billion) in French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI, becoming the largest shareholder of this AI company competing with OpenAI and Google. This deal marks an important strategic layout for Europe in the AI field.

According to media reports on Sunday citing informed sources, ASML will bear most of the funding in Mistral AI's total €1.7 billion financing round and will gain a board seat. This move will significantly enhance the Dutch company's influence in the artificial intelligence value chain.

This financing round will value Mistral at €12 billion, making it the most valuable AI company in Europe. This valuation is based on its pre-financing valuation of USD 10 billion.

The collaboration between the two leading European technology companies will help reduce Europe's dependence on American AI models while providing ASML with data analysis and AI capabilities to enhance the performance of its equipment.

ASML intensifies AI investment layout, Mistral's valuation surges

ASML's substantial investment in Mistral AI demonstrates the global leader in lithography machines' strategic emphasis on the artificial intelligence field. As the main contributor to the €1.7 billion financing round, ASML will not only become Mistral's largest shareholder but also gain a board seat, holding significant influence in corporate governance.

This €1.3 billion investment is of great significance to ASML. As a core supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, ASML can better understand and anticipate the technological development trends of AI chips through its investment in AI companies, providing important references for its future equipment development.

The €2 billion investment that Mistral is finalizing will bring the company's valuation to €12 billion. This valuation has doubled compared to €5.8 billion in June 2024, reflecting investors' optimism about the prospects of this French AI company.

Since its establishment, Mistral has raised over €1 billion, with investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, France's public investment bank Bpifrance, and BNP Paribas, among other globally renowned institutions. This financing round is the company's first large-scale financing since June 2024.

In addition, Mistral has recently been in talks with French lending institutions, including Bpifrance, regarding hundreds of millions of euros in debt financing for its French AI cloud service Mistral Compute developed in collaboration with NVIDIA