The Dutch company ASML will become the largest shareholder of the French artificial intelligence company, Mistral. According to the data, it will invest 1.3 billion of the 1.7 billion that Mistral will raise in an imminent round of financing. Although both companies are great protagonists From the European technological panorama, the alliance is strange. And yet, promising.
Mistral becomes greater. The Parisian company He has raised more than 1,000 million dollars since it was created in 2023, and is close to closing that new and important financing round which will make its valuation approach 12,000 million dollars. It will thus become one of the most important technological companies in Europe.
Semiconductors + ia. ASML It is the company in charge of manufacturing the most advanced lithography teams around the world and then selling them to companies like TSMC or Intel. Each of its photolithography systems Uve It costs about 180 million dollars And they are crucial and then produce the most advanced chips in the market. That ASML has entered fully into Mistral’s shareholders is surprising, especially because although both are technological companies, their direct relationship seems weak. So, what is the reason for this movement?
Europe is a little more sovereign. It has been a long time since Mistral focuses your business In the European business market, where it precisely presumes to offer that digital sovereignty with which EU countries can be a bit more independent of US or Chinese companies. That ASML has opted so strong for Mistral is a unique declaration of intentions to significantly reinforce Europe in the technological panorama.
Is it for better semiconductors? At the operational level, ASML may also have had reasons to take advantage of Mistral technology to improve their own photolithography machines. In fact, TSMC is including AI technology in its manufacturing plants thank you to its alliance with Nvidia. Sources close to the company reveal that ASML could benefit from the misstal experience in data analytics to improve its performance and develop new products.
A promising alliance. The relationship between both companies is as we say weak, but we are facing an alliance that from the point of view of the European technological panorama can be a notable first step for Europe to have at least options to have an alternative to the supremacy of China and the US in this segment.
Open to acquisitions. As they point out In SiftedMistral published a job offer last month – now disappeared from its employment portal – in which someone was sought in strategic operations. The mission of the candidate was to “search and advise in future acquisitions”. Nearby sources indicate that there is at least a potential objective for an customs, which will try to add small businesses that expand their product offer.
A much more open future for Mistral. The Mistral AI models, although remarkable, do not usually compete for you to you with the great foundational models of OpenAi, Google or Anthropic. That put the company in a delicate situation Looking ahead, especially for the few resources with which he competed in front of his rivals. This financing round makes things much clearer to the Gala company and seems to guarantee its future, at least in the short and medium term.
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