AI firm Mistral valued at $14 billion as chip giant ASML takes major stake

Nvidia-backed Mistral AI clinched a 11.7 billion-euro ($13.8 billion) valuation in a in a Series C funding round that saw Dutch chip equipment maker ASML secure a major stake in the French firm.

ASML pumped 1.3 billion euros in Mistral AI's 1.7 billion-euro funding round as lead investor, gaining a 11% shareholding in the French company on a fully diluted basis.

Other participants in the round included existing investors Nvidia, DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures and Lightspeed.

The investment round, which was previously reported by Reuters, more than doubles Mistral's 5.8-billion-euro valuation achieved during a 600-million-euro funding round last year, as swathes of cash continue to pour into the booming AI industry. The fundraising round turns ASML into one of Mistral's top shareholders.

Mistral, one of Europe's most competitive tech startups and widely seen as a regional rival of Sam Altman's OpenAI, has been building large language models that form the foundation of AI applications, such as chatbots. AI firms frequently require vast amounts of investments in infrastructure to support this development.

At the start of summer, Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch told CNBC's Arjun Kharpal during London Tech Week that the company is launching its first reasoning model — touted as "great at mathematics [and] great at coding" — to compete with OpenAI and China's DeepSeek. Yet there is still a wide gap to cover, with OpenAI's $10.3-billion secondary share sale lifting the company's valuation to $500 billion, nearly 36 times that of Mistral.

Lithographer ASML produces equipment allowing major companies, such as Samsung, Intel and Apple, to produce advanced chips critical for their products.

ASML's investment and shareholding, which the Dutch firm billed as a "first-of-its-kind partnership," critically arms the two-year-old Mistral with tools to lessen its reliance on Silicon Valley, at a time when the European Union is pushing for its AI movement to stand on its own feet and faces the protectionist trade measures of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

ASML Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen will assume a seat at Mistral's strategic committee board, as part of the company's investment.