French AI firm Mistral to build data centres in Sweden

The 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion) investment is "a major step toward Europe's technological independence", Mistral said, offering "a completely European AI solution".

One of Europe's leading lights in artificial intelligence, Mistral has posted revenues far behind those of American competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic, though profitability remains elusive for most of the sector.

But Mistral's European DNA may prove to be an advantage, with technological sovereignty increasingly on leaders' minds.

It has focussed in particular on business clients and applications, and not chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude that target everyday users.

In September it raised 1.7 billion euros, bringing aboard Dutch chipmaking technology giant ASML as a key investor.

The fundraising valued Mistral at 11.7 billion euros, and chief executive Arthur Mensch has said the company's revenue should top one billion euros this year.