Foreign media reported that Samsung is discussing a plan to invest hundreds of millions of euros in Mistral AI, France's leading artificial intelligence (AI) startup.
On the 22nd (local time), the Financial Times (FT), citing multiple sources, said Samsung's participation is being discussed in a funding round in which Mistral aims to raise several billion euros with a target valuation of 20 billion euros (about 34 trillion won).
One source said Samsung could invest about 1 billion euros (about 1.7 trillion won). Samsung is also known to have invested in Mistral through its venture investment institutional sector before.
Mistral raised 1.7 billion euros in a funding round in September last year. At the time, most of the investment came from ASML, a Dutch semiconductor equipment company that uses Mistral's AI models, FT said.
FT assessed, "This negotiation comes as computing demand in the AI industry far outstrips supply, prompting AI developers to seek partnerships with semiconductor suppliers."