The comment came after Heemskerk revealed ASML’s CEO Christophe Fouquet had a 2-hour meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “After an hour and a half of listening, he [Modi] said you’re too friendly, tell me what we can do better,” said Heemskerk.
European policymakers would do well to take note, according to the ASML executive: “The political leaders should sit down with the companies that are investing money.”
He also commented on ASML’s recent €1.3 billion deal with French artificial intelligence company Mistral, which was seen as a major boost for Europe’s bid to be more technologically sovereign.
“Of course it’s easier that it’s a European company, it is easier to understand each other,” he said. But the reason the two companies are teaming up is “because of the focus of Mistral on industrial AI,” he said.
“It’s much more an industrial AI focus than anything around geopolitics,” he said.
