French AI lab Mistral AI has raised €3 billion, roughly $3.58 billion, at a post-money valuation exceeding €21 billion, or about $24.39 billion, in what the company describes as the largest equity funding round ever completed by a European technology firm. The Series D round was led by Samsung Electronics, with EQT-managed Scaleup Europe Fund and existing investor PSG Equity serving as co-leads, alongside backers including a16z, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, Advent, BlackRock, and new investor Luxembourg.
Mistral said the funding will expand its compute capacity, infrastructure, and international presence as it pursues a strategy centered on sovereign AI, including a goal of building 1 GW of European compute capacity by 2030 and offering customers control over where their AI queries are processed. The company has also begun hosting third-party open-weight models, including Chinese systems, positioning itself as a flexible AI infrastructure provider rather than a single chatbot product.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the round as reflecting a partnership between France and South Korea to build an alternative path in global AI development. Mistral now operates in 20 countries, with a go-to-market approach focused on helping governments and enterprises adopt AI while maintaining control, distinguishing it from labs like OpenAI and Anthropic. The company continues to partner with Microsoft as well, having expanded that relationship in July.
