Europe’s mistral to invest $1.43b in Swedish AI infrastructure

French AI company Mistral said on Wednesday that it will invest €1.2 billion ($1.43 billion) into AI infrastructure in Sweden, marking its first such project outside France. The investment will fund AI data centers, advanced compute resources, and localized AI capabilities, laying the groundwork for a European AI cloud to serve industries, public institutions, and researchers at scale.

Founded in 2023, Mistral has quickly become one of Europe’s leading AI startups, raising €1.7 billion in September at an €11.7 billion valuation, with backing from Nvidia, Microsoft, ASML, and top venture firms including Andreessen Horowitz and DST Global. The company initially focused on large language models but has expanded into the infrastructure needed to support AI development, launching Mistral Compute in June to provide integrated GPUs, APIs, and managed platform services.

Sweden, with its low energy costs and cooler climate, is considered an ideal location for large-scale compute facilities. Mistral will partner with Swedish firm EcoDataCenter to deploy its new AI compute center, scheduled to open in 2027, supporting next-generation AI models.

Mistral’s move highlights Europe’s ambition to build independent AI capabilities amid rising geopolitical tensions. While the startup is Europe’s best-funded LLM builder, it still trails U.S. rivals, including OpenAI and Anthropic, whose funding rounds reach tens of billions. Mistral’s investment signals a strategic push to boost Europe’s AI competitiveness and sovereignty in the face of rapidly advancing global AI infrastructure.