Mistral-ASML: A Glimmer Of Hope For Europe In The Battle For AI’s Future

-Analysis-

PARIS — In recent weeks, rumors have been circulating about the possibility of American giant Apple buying French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral. It seemed inevitable that a French and European success story would fall into the hands of a deep-pocketed U.S. company, with talk of at least $6 billion on the table.

That’s not what happened, and it was Europe that provided the funding for Mistral. In a time of American steamrolling led by Donald Trump, this is rare enough to be of note and commendable, even if the Old Continent remains highly dependent on the United States in terms of technology.

It is a Dutch company whose name will mean nothing to you, ASML, which is investing in and entering into a strategic partnership with Mistral, the “French gem” of AI, as it is often described. ASML is discreet, but it is the largest European technology company, dominating the global market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. ASML is investing 1.3 billion euros in the French company and taking a 12% stake in its capital.

This investment by the Dutch heavyweight makes Mistral the leading European artificial intelligence company in terms of value, at 10 billion euros. This is remarkable for a company that only launched in 2023 — but we must keep a sense of perspective: Open AI, the inventor of Chat GPT, is worth around $300 billion, and its competitor, also U.S.-based, Anthropic, is worth $183 billion. Though a giant in Europe, Mistral remains a dwarf on the world stage.

Nevertheless, it has been said often enough, particularly in last year’s Draghi report on competitiveness that Europe is at risk of falling behind, so we should pay attention when things start to happen on this side of the Atlantic. The unexpected partnerships between ASML and Mistral shows that it is not always necessary to cross the ocean to seek financing for development, even though Mistral’s latest capital increase also includes American funds, albeit as a minority shareholder.

Technology is now at the heart of both economic competition and global geopolitics.

Europe has certainly had its share of major industrial successes, such as Airbus, but despite the EU single market, collaborations like this remain too rare among private companies. Especially in such a crucial field.

The stakes are clear: technology is now at the heart of both economic competition and geopolitics. While it makes no sense to strive for complete self-reliance, sovereignty is a key factor in this era of redefinition of global power relations. And Europe is far from achieving this.

Trump is relying on Silicon Valley to impose his authority, having turned American technological innovation into a weapon of domination. He is demonstrating this both to his Chinese rival and to his supposed European allies. China has the scale and level of innovation to match and, in some sectors, surpass the United States; Europe, on the other hand, is primarily a prey, a market that Trump wants to prevent from regulating as it sees fit.

ASML’s investment in Mistral and its chatbot “Le Chat” is primarily a response to industrial demands and private corporate strategies, but we are living in a time when geopolitics is omnipresent, and this rapprochement is therefore a real milestone.