ASML leads €1.7B funding of Mistral AI, becomes largest shareholder

Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML said on Tuesday it is leading a €1.7 billion Series C funding round in French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI with a €1.3 billion investment, becoming the startup's largest shareholder and securing a strategic partnership and a seat on its board. The financing values Mistral at roughly €11.7 billion postmoney, company and market figures show, marking the highest reported valuation for a European AI firm to date.

According to people familiar with the negotiations, the deal was structured on a premoney valuation of about €10 billion, with Bank of America advising ASML. Company statements released with the funding announcement stressed that the capital will be used to accelerate research and industrial deployments of Mistral's models and to develop joint solutions for ASML's customers. ASML's chief executive, Christophe Fouquet, said the partnership aims to generate clear benefits for ASML customers through innovative products and joint research, and Mistral's CEO, Arthur Mensch, described the investment as reaffirming the startup's independence while advancing the semiconductor and AI value chain.

The move binds two European technology...