Samsung in Talks to Invest as Much as $1.1 Billion in French AI Startup Mistral

TradingKey - On July 21, Eastern Time, according to the Financial Times, Samsung Electronics is in talks with French AI company Mistral AI for a new round of funding, planning to invest approximately 1 billion euros (equivalent to approximately $1.09 billion). This funding round could push Mistral AI's valuation to 20 billion euros (approximately $21.8 billion).

Samsung has previously invested in Mistral AI through its venture capital arm, and this increased investment will bring the two parties closer together. Samsung Electronics closed up 0.58% in the Seoul market today, but has cumulatively fallen by over 24% over the past month. The memory chip sector as a whole is under pressure as market concerns over the return on AI investments persist.

[Source: TradingView]

What Kind of Company Is Mistral AI?

Mistral AI is currently one of the highest-valued AI startups in Europe. Headquartered in Paris, France, and founded in 2023, it has been dubbed "Europe's OpenAI" by French media. It focuses on developing open-source large language models, emphasizing technological autonomy and data security.

Since its inception, Mistral AI has followed an open-source approach, allowing customers to download and deploy models themselves without third-party restrictions. After the Trump administration banned foreign users from accessing Anthropic's Mythos and Fable models last month, European companies began to re-examine the risks of "putting their AI lifeblood in the hands of US companies." A European tech investor told the Financial Times that if an American company can unilaterally cut off access to your models, European businesses must re-evaluate whether such dependency can be sustained in the long run.

Why Samsung Is Investing in Mistral AI?

Against the backdrop of AI computing demand far outstripping supply, major AI model developers like OpenAI and Anthropic are scrambling for chip capacity globally, and Samsung is one of the few manufacturers worldwide capable of mass-producing HBM and advanced logic chips. Injecting capital into Mistral AI is equivalent to Samsung securing a long-term customer on the AI model side; meanwhile, for Mistral AI, Samsung's appeal lies not only in the 1 billion euros, but more importantly, in the chip supply channel.

If the negotiations between Samsung and Mistral AI are finalized, the market may reassess Samsung's position in the AI ecosystem, as it is not just selling chips but is also moving closer to becoming a core node in AI infrastructure.

Samsung has not yet commented on the deal details, and people familiar with the matter said the talks are still ongoing and have not been finalized. The deal will also require EU antitrust clearance to go through. If completed, Samsung is expected to secure a board seat at Mistral AI and may also pre-install Mistral AI models in some of its AI chip products, further strengthening their technical integration. Whether Samsung's share price can leverage this opportunity to bottom out and rebound depends on how the market prices this "strategic investment."