ASML is investing €1.3 billion in European competitor OpenAI. What does this mean?

ASML, a key supplier of advanced chip manufacturing equipment from the Netherlands, will invest €1.3 billion in French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI and become its largest shareholder, Reuters has learned. The deal will link two of Europe's most important technology companies, analysts say. Mistral AI, which competes with OpenAI and Google, will have a valuation of €10 billion. The agreement not only cements Mistral's status as Europe's most valuable AI player, but could also help reduce the region's dependence on U.S. and Chinese technology.

ASML will become the largest shareholder in French AI startup Mistral AI as a result of its new investment round, Reuters reported, citing sources. ASML will invest €1.3 billion in a funding round totaling €1.7 billion and is expected to get a seat on the French startup's board of directors, the agency's sources said.

In the current round of C Mistral's investment, Mistral has received a pre-money valuation of 10 billion euros, making it the most expensive artificial intelligence company in Europe, Reuters sources said. At the same time, Bloomberg wrote last week that the new round of financing of Mistral assumes a valuation of $14 billion.

In trading in Amsterdam on September 8, ASML shares were adding 1.3%, but relative to the beginning of 2025, they are down about 1.5%. ASML securities in the U.S. were up 0.4% at the premarket, but have gained almost 13% since January.

ASML declined to comment to Reuters. Mistral did not respond to the agency's request.

ASML's investment in Mistral AI could help the company reduce Europe's dependence on U.S. and Chinese AI models, sources told Reuters. Analysts believe the deal will link two of Europe's most important technology companies, Seeking Alpha wrote. Often called France's and Europe's flagship in artificial intelligence, Mistral competes with U.S. giants such as OpenAI and Google (Alphabet).

ASML manufactures the lithography equipment needed to produce advanced chips and is using AI to improve the efficiency of its tools. The company can benefit from applying data analytics and Mistral's AI capabilities to improve equipment performance and develop new products.

On Monday, September 8 Berenberg analyst Tammy Qiu reiterated a buy recommendation on shares of ASML (Buy rating). But he lowered the target price from €740 to €735. His assessment implies the company's shares growth by 11%.

At the beginning of September several analysts updated their targets and recommendations on the securities of the Dutch company. Thus, Barclays kept neutral assessment, but raised the target price from 650 to 680 euros. This implies growth of shares by 3% relative to the closing price on Friday, September 5.

UBS on Friday raised its recommendation on the company's shares from neutral to "buy". Analyst François-Xavier Bouvignes raised the target price from 660 to 750 euros. His forecast assumes growth of ASML quotations by 13.6%.

The brokerage estimates that the company's long-term prospects remain strong, with average annual EPS growth projected at 20% between 2026 and 2030. This will be helped by the launch of a new generation of High-NA lithography systems, which will enable the production of even more complex chips, as well as the wider use of EUV technology in the production of processors and graphics chips, according to MarketScreener.

Of the 39 analysts tracking the company's stock, about 70% advise buying it (Buy and Overweight ratings). Almost a third recommend holding (Hold). Just over 2% of analysts recommend selling the stock (Sell).

OpenAI's competitor, Mistral, is developing open language models as well as a chatbot for European users called Le Chat and other AI-based services, Bloomberg writes.

In June, the company unveiled Europe's first AI model for reasoning, which uses logical thinking to form answers. The move is designed to help Mistral keep pace with U.S. and Chinese competitors at the forefront of AI development, Reuters wrote earlier.

Industry experts consider Mistral to be the most promising European AI company capable of competing with Silicon Valley leaders, although the French startup has yet to achieve a comparable scale of revenue and market presence, the agency notes.

Mistral's investors include Nvidia (NVDA.O), Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

The company was founded in 2023 by Arthur Mensch, a former DeepMind researcher, and ex-Meta employees Timothée Lacroix and Guillaume Lampl.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor