Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) is reportedly discussing an investment of about 1 billion in French AI startup Mistral, potentially deepening its exposure to Europe's push for greater technological independence.
The funding round could value Mistral at roughly 20 billion, or $22.8 billion, according to the Financial Times. That would represent a sharp increase from the 11.7 billion valuation secured during its 1.7 billion Series C round in September 2025.
Founded in 2023 by former Google NASDAQ:GOOG DeepMind and Meta NASDAQ:META researchers, Mistral develops large language models and AI platforms. It has positioned itself as a European alternative to U.S. AI leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
Mistral also raised $830 million in debt financing in March to build data centers in France and Sweden. Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT has separately committed billions toward its European AI infrastructure and distributes its models through Azure.