Mistral Raises $2 Billion With ASML As Top Investor - 1

Photo by Rodeo Project Management Software on Unsplash

Mistral Raises $2 Billion With ASML As Top Investor

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The French AI company Mistral has allegedly raised $2.45 billion in a recent Series C funding round, led by the Dutch company ASML, which committed 1.3 billion euros to the fundraise. Mistral is becoming Europe’s most valuable AI company.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Mistral has allegedly raised $2.45 billion in a recent Series C funding round, led by the Dutch company ASML.
  • ASML committed 1.3 billion euros to the fundraising.
  • Mistral could reach a $14 billion valuation, becoming Europe’s most valuable AI company.

According to a Reuters exclusive published on Sunday, anonymous sources said ASML—known for its machines crucial to chipmaking—is expected to get a board seat at Mistral if the deal closes, as it would become its largest investor. The details of the negotiations have not yet been publicly disclosed, but people familiar with the matter said this round will make Mistral the most valuable AI company in Europe.

The new alliance would make Europe less reliant on U.S. and Chinese AI models. Mistral, which launched its first reasoning AI model, Magistral , in June, competes with frontier models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. The new funding could help the French AI startup accelerate the development of its technology, while ASML could leverage Mistral’s AI and data analytics capabilities to improve its tools and enhance performance.

ASML is the only company in the world that produces and sells extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, crucial for the mass production of advanced chips for AI models.

After its Series B funding last year, Mistral—founded in 2023 by former DeepMind researcher Arthur Mensch, and former Meta researchers Guillaume Lample and Timothée Lacroix—was valued $6 billion. A few days ago, Bloomberg News reported that it could reach a $14 billion valuation after this Series C round.

According to analysts at Innovation Origins , this new deal aligns with the European autonomy agenda, especially amid tensions with the United States and Trump’s import tariffs on semiconductors affecting the tech chain. ASML has also been working with Nvidia, one of Mistral’s investors and business partners, making this new deal a strategic partnership as well.

Just a few months ago, Mistral also partnered with the French giant TotalEnergies to develop new energy solutions and optimize processes.

EU Fines Google $3.45 Billion Over Adtech Practices - 2

Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

EU Fines Google $3.45 Billion Over Adtech Practices

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros—around $3.45 billion—on Friday over its abusive practices in advertising technology (adtech). The agency said the tech giant had favored its own ad displays and systems, engaging in anticompetitive behavior.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • The European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion for breaching European antitrust laws through anticompetitive behavior.
  • The antitrust watchdog said Google has been abusing its adtech tools to harm competitors.
  • The U.S. government called the decision “unfair” and threatened to take action.

According to the official announcement , the Commission’s investigation revealed that Google had been abusing its dominant position in adtech since 2014, breaching Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

“It did so by favouring its own online display advertising technology services to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers, and online publishers,” states the announcement. “Google has now 60 days to inform the Commission about how it intends to do so.”

The European antitrust watchdog explained that Google abused its adtech tools—its publisher ad servers, programmatic ad buying tools, and ad exchange AdX. In one case, the investigation showed that Google favored AdX by making it the most attractive exchange and informing it of the best bid from competitors in advance. This allowed Google to charge a higher fee for its services.

“Today’s decision shows that Google abused its dominant position in adtech, harming publishers, advertisers, and consumers,” said Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. “Google must now come forward with a serious remedy to address its conflicts of interest, and if it fails to do so, we will not hesitate to impose strong remedies.”

According to Reuters , U.S. President Donald Trump has called the Commission’s decision “unfair” and threatened to take action against the organization.

“We cannot let this happen to brilliant and unprecedented American Ingenuity and, if it does, I will be forced to start a Section 301 proceeding to nullify the unfair penalties being charged to these Taxpaying American Companies,” wrote Trump in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 states that the U.S. can sanction foreign countries for engaging in “unreasonable” actions that burden U.S. commerce.

Google also faces another antitrust complaint in the European Union over its AI Overview tool , issued by the Independent Publishers Alliance in July.