Europe’s answer to OpenAI announces billion-dollar AI infrastructure push in Sweden

French AI startup Mistral said on Wednesday it will invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.43 billion) into digital infrastructure in Sweden, including AI data centers.

The announcement comes as Europe scrambles to build out the infrastructure needed to power rapidly developing AI tools, as it seeks to build tech sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The funds will facilitate the development of AI data centers, advanced compute capacity and localized AI capabilities, Mistral said.

Founded in 2023, Mistral has emerged as one of Europe’s leading AI companies and raised a 1.7 billion euro funding round in September, hitting an 11.7 billion euro valuation. Dutch chip equipment maker ASML contributed 1.3 billion euros to the round.

The company also counts big tech giants Nvidia and Microsoft as investors, alongside DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, and Index Ventures.

“This investment is a concrete step toward building independent capabilities in Europe, dedicated to AI”, said Arthur Mensch, Mistral CEO, in a statement.

“By delivering a fully vertical offer with locally processed and stored data, we are reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy and competitiveness,” he added. “This lays the foundation for a European AI cloud that can serve industries, public institutions, and researchers at scale.”