Mistral Raises €3 Billion as Samsung Funds Its Push for More AI Compute

Mistral AI has raised €3 billion in a Series D led by Samsung Electronics, giving the French AI company a post-money valuation of more than €21 billion. The new capital is intended to expand the research, compute and infrastructure behind Mistral’s open-weight AI strategy.

Samsung led the round. Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, and existing investor PSG Equity were co-leads. Advent, BlackRock-managed funds and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg joined as new investors; existing backers including ASML, Nvidia and a16z also participated.

Capital for a larger compute footprint

Mistral says the money will support frontier research, training compute, infrastructure, commercial growth and international expansion. Chief executive Arthur Mensch told CNBC that the company plans to build more infrastructure, including its own data centers. He said Mistral aims to roughly double the compute capacity it owns over the next five years.

The control claim extends beyond model releases

Mistral develops open-weight AI models. It describes its sovereign AI approach as a way for organizations to retain control over data, models, compute and systems in production. Those are Mistral’s stated product and infrastructure goals, not results established by the financing.

• Data that remains within an organization’s boundaries.
• Controllable, customizable models and private, predictable compute.
• Production systems Mistral says can be controlled and audited.

CNBC reports that Mistral works with individual companies to create custom AI tools and integrate them into their businesses. It already integrates AI into ASML’s manufacturing process, and Mensch said the company would focus on similar work with Samsung. Mistral says it operates in 20 countries and supports more than 125 enterprises, including Airbus, ASML and HSBC.

Larger models are the next operating test

Mensch said Mistral plans to train bigger and faster models. He expects annual recurring revenue to exceed $1 billion in 2026, though he declined to give CNBC a revised forecast after the financing. He also said customers need confidence that their models will be upgraded and supported over time.

The financing gives Mistral greater resources for model development, owned capacity and enterprise delivery. Its valuation reflects investor backing for that plan; the company’s future growth forecast and infrastructure ambitions remain forward-looking.