Samsung Leads, Mistral AI Raises €3 Billion

According to the latest announcement, French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI has raised €3 billion (approximately $3.5 billion) in a new funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to more than €21 billion. The investment round was led by Samsung Electronics, with the new capital set to support the development of advanced AI models and the expansion of computing infrastructure.

Mistral AI said the round was co-led by the EU’s Scaleup Europe Fund and PSG Equity. The Paris-based company’s valuation has nearly doubled from €11.7 billion in its previous funding round about a year ago, highlighting growing investor interest in European AI technologies.

Mistral AI Chief Executive Officer Arthur Mensch said the new funding will help the company further expand its industrial AI business, which focuses on applying artificial intelligence to manufacturing processes. The company views industrial AI as an increasingly important area of differentiation as demand for AI technologies continues to grow across the manufacturing sector.

Although Mistral AI remains significantly smaller than major generative AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, it has positioned itself as a European alternative focused on “sovereign AI.” The company has established partnerships with major European industrial companies, including Airbus, BMW, and ASML, the Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment manufacturer. ASML also led Mistral AI’s previous funding round.

Mensch said the company’s expansion strategy means it will need to build a substantial physical infrastructure base, including data centers. Earlier this year, Mistral AI raised $830 million in debt financing for a planned data center project near Paris that is expected to use NVIDIA chips. The company has also committed €1.2 billion to develop a data center in Sweden, marking its first major data center investment outside France.

Founded in 2023, Mistral AI was established by Arthur Mensch, a former researcher at Google DeepMind, along with former Meta Platforms researchers Timothée Lacroix and Guillaume Lample. The company focuses on developing open-weight large language models, distinguishing its approach from the proprietary AI models developed by many major U.S. competitors.

As European governments seek to reduce their reliance on AI technologies developed by companies in the United States and China, Mistral AI is aiming to strengthen its presence in the European public-sector market. Its growing investments in AI computing infrastructure and industrial applications could further strengthen Europe’s position in the global AI ecosystem.