France’s Mistral in funding talks at about €20 billion valuation

French startup Mistral AI is in talks to raise around €3 billion ($3.5 billion) at a valuation of roughly €20 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions, providing Europe’s artificial intelligence champion with a cash injection as it competes in a costly computing race against competitors in the US and China.

Discussions with investors are still at an early stage and the terms may change, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The valuation may go higher depending on investor demand, they said. The Paris-based company was valued at €11.7 billion when it raised money in September.