Samsung in talks to invest €1bn in Mistral at €20bn valuation
Samsung's potential €1 billion investment in Mistral would value the French AI firm at €20 billion, underscoring rising capital flows into European artificial intelligence amid growing regional pressure to reduce reliance on US technology.
Samsung is negotiating a roughly €1 billion investment in Mistral, a French artificial intelligence start-up, according to people familiar with the matter. The fundraising round would value the company at approximately €20 billion, or $22.81 billion. Swedish investor EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund is also in discussions to participate in the financing. Neither Samsung nor Mistral immediately responded to requests for comment.
A deal at this valuation would represent a major financial milestone for Europe’s nascent AI sector. While Mistral's valuation remains significantly smaller than that of US-based competitors like Anthropic, a potential €1 billion commitment from a global hardware leader signals growing institutional confidence in non-US AI developers. For market participants, the round indicates that capital is actively pricing in the premium of technological sovereignty.
The talks build directly on Mistral’s momentum from earlier this week. On Tuesday, Microsoft agreed to spend billions of dollars on Mistral’s computing infrastructure in Europe. That arrangement expands the distribution of Mistral’s technology through Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem, effectively pairing European model development with US distribution networks while keeping critical hardware on European soil.
This push for European AI independence is driven by mounting geopolitical constraints. A US decision last month paused foreign access to two advanced models from Anthropic, a San Francisco-based rival. That restriction made the development of homegrown, unrestricted AI infrastructure a more urgent priority for European governments seeking to maintain control over their digital economies and military capabilities.
Mistral has actively positioned itself to capture this demand. Beyond its commercial products, the company supplies AI technology directly to the French military. By offering an alternative to US tech giants, Mistral provides European governments and enterprises with a hedge against potential future regulatory disruptions originating from Washington.
For Samsung, the potential investment aligns with a broader strategic pivot outlined in April. The South Korean conglomerate stated it would pursue targeted investments and acquisitions to accelerate the development and commercialization of robotics and AI technologies. Partnering with Mistral offers Samsung a foothold in European AI development, diversifying its technological partnerships beyond its traditional US alliances.
