Credit...Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times
Two Leading European Tech Firms Strike an A.I. Partnership
ASML, the Dutch maker of semiconductor equipment, is investing about $1.5 billion in Mistral, the French A.I. start-up.
by https://www.nytimes.com/by/adam-satariano · NY TimesTwo of Europe’s leading technology companies struck a partnership on Tuesday, with ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker, investing about $1.5 billion in the French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral.
ASML is one of the world’s most strategically significant tech companies because of the role its equipment plays in the production of semiconductors. Mistral is seen as Europe’s most promising artificial intelligence company.
The deal, which values Mistral at 11.7 billion euros, or $13.8 billion, comes amid growing concern across Europe about dependence on American tech companies. Many European leaders fear the region’s lack of progress in technology will leave it economically lagging the United States and China.
The deal illustrates the growing links between developers of artificial intelligence and makers of semiconductors. A.I., which can be trained to perform skills by analyzing vast amounts of data, requires dizzying amounts of computing power from data centers packed with semiconductors.
ASML is at the center of that market because it is the only manufacturer of the machines capable of creating the world’s most advanced chips. One ASML machine can cost as much as $400 million.
Mistral, founded two years ago in Paris, is seen by many in Europe as the region’s best chance to compete against larger American A.I. developers like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. Mistral is also facing stiff competition from the Chinese firms DeepSeek and Alibaba.
The French start-up has not raised nearly as much money as larger rivals, putting it at a financial disadvantage. Just last week, Anthropic brought in an additional $13 billion, valuing the company at $183 billion.
Under the deal announced on Tuesday, ASML invested €1.3 billion, making it Mistral’s largest shareholder with an ownership of about 11 percent. ASML’s investment was part of a €1.7 billion fund-raising round for Mistral. Other investors included DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Lightspeed and Nvidia.
ASML, whose equipment is vital for manufacturing A.I. chips, has been at the center of the geopolitical debate over the technology. The company has grappled with trade policies that restrict the sale of its most advanced equipment to China and, more recently, tariffs on imports to the United States.
The Mistral deal is unusual for ASML, an equipment manufacturer that does not typically invest in start-ups.
Mistral’s European roots was not the “main factor” behind the company’s investment, but the geographic location had some benefits, Roger Dassen, ASML’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. He added that artificial intelligence was crucial to ASML’s growth and that teaming up with Mistral would help it better understand and influence the technology’s development.
He said Mistral’s tools would be used within ASML to develop new products and improve semiconductor production.
“This is strategic,” he said. “A.I. clearly is one of the key drivers of our business.”
Arthur Mensch, the chief executive of Mistral, said in a statement that the deal combined “our frontier A.I. expertise with ASML’s unmatched industrial leadership and most sophisticated engineering capabilities.”