ASML Invests $1.5 Billion in French AI Startup Mistral, Doubling Valuation to $13.8 Billion

French AI startup Mistral has secured a $1.5 billion investment from Dutch chip company ASML, doubling its valuation to $13.8 billion and cementing its place as Europe's most valuable AI startup. ASML plans to use Mistral's AI tech in supply chains and research and development. Mistral has developed large language models that are open weights, and the funding is dwarfed by that of OpenAI, which has raised close to $60 billion in total.

French AI startup Mistral has secured a $1.5 billion investment from Dutch chip company ASML, doubling its valuation to $13.8 billion. This significant funding round, led by ASML, has positioned Mistral as Europe's most valuable AI startup .

The Series C funding round, which included participation from existing investors such as Nvidia, DST Global, and Andreessen Horowitz, valued Mistral at $11.7 billion post-money. ASML's investment, amounting to $1.3 billion, gave the Dutch company an 11% stake in Mistral on a fully diluted basis .

ASML's investment and strategic partnership with Mistral aim to integrate AI models into ASML's product portfolio, benefiting customers with faster time to market and higher performance lithography systems. ASML Chief Financial Officer Roger Dassen will join Mistral's Strategic Committee, providing ASML with an advisory role in Mistral's future strategy and technology decisions .

Mistral's large language models, available as open weights, are designed to outperform competitors like Meta's LLaMA 2 and LLaMA 34B, despite being smaller in size. The funding is a significant milestone for Mistral, which was founded in 2023 by former executives from DeepMind and Meta. The investment is dwarfed by OpenAI's total funding of nearly $60 billion, but it underscores the growing importance of European AI startups .

ASML's investment in Mistral could accelerate the latter's growth and help it emerge as a European counterweight to U.S. AI players. The collaboration between ASML and Mistral is expected to foster innovation and address future opportunities in the global semiconductor and AI value chain.

References:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/09/ai-firm-mistral-valued-at-14-billion-as-asml-takes-major-stake.html
https://stocktwits.com/news-articles/markets/equity/asml-backs-openai-rival-mistral-to-whopping-14-b-valuation-amid-improving-retail-trader-confidence/chw0DesRdsQ
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/asml-1-3-bln-mistral-100024859.html
https://www.asml.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/asml-mistral-ai-enter-strategic-partnership