ASML Invested Billions in Mistral

Image Credits: Euractive

Announcement

ASML, a popular Dutch maker of chipmaking gear, is planning to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI. The companies confirmed this investment on Tuesday by officially introducing the new collaboration between Europe’s top two technology companies. The ASML, a Veldhoven-based holding company in the Netherlands, is positioned with a crucial role in the tech industry globally due to its best-in-class equipment used in the advanced manufacturing of semiconductors, consisting of highly advanced microchips mainly introduced for robust AI systems. The companies are well developed to make a huge positive impact in the tech era, competing best with their innovative skills.

The Mistral company was founded in Paris two years ago by an existing researcher at Google DeepMind and Meta Platforms, and instantly became a heart of the European tech spectrum. The partnership emphasizes Europe's initiatives and continuous efforts in the reduction of exposure to American technology. Though President Donald Trump’s uncertain attitude toward the European Union's tech regulations has accelerated the debate on the topic of whether the continent relies on the services enabled by US tech companies, like mobile operating systems and cloud computing. This made the European tech financially stuck in the middle of this high competition.

ASML and Mistral’s Ability to Face Regional Disparities and Conflicts

Mistral creates the le chat chatbot but finds it difficult to roll out its tool to the American AI companies, such as GPT-maker OpenAI, and the rival Chinese such as DeepSeek. Whereas ASML’s chipmaking equipment can reach hundreds of millions of dollars in profit, the US government has stopped the sale of the highly advanced machines to China. With this unfavourable scenario, both companies are struggling to expand as the pathways seem to be challenging. With the change and improvement, especially in President Donald Trump’s decision, will lessen the stress of other regions and continue with their work and partnership effectively, hassle-free.

Under this partnership agreement, ASML will get an 11% stake in Mistral, and the value of the startup at around 11.7 billion euros. The 1.3 billion euro investment is a huge funding idea worth 1.7 billion euros that includes chipmaker Nvidia and venture capital firms.

CEO of Mistral, Arthur Mensch, said, “The partnership merges Mistral's frontier AI expertise with ASML’s excellent industrial leadership and systematic engineering potency. Together, we will leverage technological progress into the global AI value chain and semiconductor industry.”