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Europe’s rising AI star Mistral seeks massive new funding round

Europe’s rising AI star Mistral seeks massive new funding round
Image: Mistral

French AI startup Mistral AI is in early discussions to raise approximately 3 billion euros, which would value the company at around 20 billion euros. This funding would nearly double the valuation from its Series C round last September, where semiconductor giant ASML became its largest shareholder. Mistral has positioned itself as Europe's sovereign alternative to US tech giants, partnering with regional governments and major corporations like Airbus and BMW. Unlike its American rivals, the lab advocates for an open approach by releasing foundational models with open weights alongside its closed enterprise offerings. Despite its rapid growth and plans for proprietary data centers, Mistral still faces a massive capital gap compared to OpenAI and Anthropic. Ultimately, this massive funding round will test whether European venture capital can effectively sustain a competitive computing race against Silicon Valley.

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