ASML, one of Europe’s largest tech companies by market value, takes an 11 percent stake in Mistral, which is one of the few European companies to develop AI models and chatbots that rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, both companies announced Tuesday morning.
ASML’s investment is part of a larger funding round of €1.7 billion for Mistral. The French company is valued at €11.7 billion.
“This investment brings together two technology leaders operating in the same value chain,” Mistral’s CEO Arthur Mensch said.
Currently, U.S. cloud providers service two-thirds of the European market, and the EU represents only 7 percent of global AI investments.
Dutch European Parliament lawmaker Bart Groothuis called the investment — after Reuters reported Sunday about the upcoming deal — a “brilliant move.”
“It helps to build a European AI ecosystem,” he added.
