Samsung is in advanced talks to invest approximately €1 billion in the French artificial intelligence start-up Mistral as part of a larger fundraising round that could value the company around €20 billion. This potential investment aims to strengthen Mistral’s position as a challenger to major U.S. technology firms in the AI sector.

The South Korean conglomerate, known as the world’s largest producer of memory chips, has previously supported Mistral through its venture capital arm. The current discussions reflect a broader trend among AI developers seeking to secure strategic partnerships with semiconductor manufacturers, as the industry faces soaring demand for computing power that is increasingly difficult to meet.

Mistral, based in Paris, has positioned itself as a provider of “open” AI models that can be customized and controlled by clients, including governments and corporations. This approach ensures that no single entity can disable these models, distinguishing Mistral from some U.S. counterparts. The interest in alternatives to American AI models has grown following recent U.S. export restrictions on Anthropic’s advanced Mythos and Fable AI models, which have been barred from foreign access amid concerns about technology control.

The current fundraising round, potentially targeting several billion euros, comes less than a year after Mistral was valued at €12 billion in a deal led by Dutch chip equipment maker ASML. Earlier this year, Mistral raised $830 million through debt financing to support building Nvidia-powered data centers across Europe. ASML, a key investor, uses Mistral’s AI models to optimize the production of its sophisticated chip-manufacturing machinery.

In addition to Samsung, Swedish investment firm EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund is also reportedly in talks to participate in the funding round. This vehicle, which is expected to exceed €5 billion, receives backing from the European Commission and private investors like Novo Holdings and Santander, focusing on supporting competitive European technology companies.

Mistral faces growing competition from Chinese AI developers, with Moonshot’s latest Kimi model raising concerns about lower-cost rivals closing the performance gap with leading U.S. AI systems. Nonetheless, Mistral’s CEO Arthur Mensch stated in February that the company’s annual recurring revenue is projected to surpass $1 billion this year, driven by expansion among enterprise customers.

While the discussions remain ongoing and no final agreements have been confirmed, the potential investment highlights the strategic efforts by European and Asian entities to establish sovereign AI capabilities amid shifting global technology dynamics. Representatives from Samsung, Mistral, and EQT declined to comment on the negotiations.