European AI leaders are building a "moat" for technological sovereignty through large-scale infrastructure investments. On February 11, 2026, French AI startup Mistral AI announced that it will invest 1.2 billion euros (about 1.43 billion US dollars) in Sweden to build a new data center. This is not only Mistral's largest infrastructure investment since its establishment, but also its first infrastructure layout outside of France.

Escaping the "US Cloud": Building a Pure European AI Ecosystem

While competitors such as OpenAI heavily rely on US cloud computing platforms, Mistral is taking a completely different path:

Infrastructure Autonomy: This project aims to root core technologies, computing facilities, and cloud servers entirely in Europe, reducing reliance on neighboring US tech giants.

Full-Stack Service Capabilities: The funds will be used to enhance advanced computing power, providing an integrated technology stack service including GPU, API, and PaaS through the "Mistral Compute" platform.

Supporting Next-Generation Models: The new data center is expected to go into operation in 2027, serving as the core site for training and deploying Mistral's next-generation top AI models.

Considerations Behind the Choice of Sweden: Green Computing Power and Localization

This Swedish data center will be designed and built by local operator EcoDataCenter. Sweden's abundant green energy and mature infrastructure will provide strong support for Mistral to enhance its localized AI service capabilities. Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral, said this move is a key step in building a "European independent AI cloud platform," aiming to provide large-scale independent infrastructure for industries, public institutions, and researchers.

Valuation of 10 Billion Euros, Global Capital Portfolio

Founded in 2023, Mistral has developed rapidly, with a current valuation of 11.7 billion euros. It is backed by a star investment group led by Dutch chip giant ASML, including tech giants such as NVIDIA and Microsoft, as well as well-known institutions like Andreessen Horowitz and DST Global.

Although it still lags behind the billions of US dollar funding scales of the United States, Mistral is trying to secure an independent voice in the global AI competition through a strategy of "hardware + software" to give Europe a place in the global AI game.