ASML-Mistral AI: It’s the Geopolitics, Stupid: Lionel Laurent

French President Emmanuel Macron couldn’t have scripted it better. In a week of political dysfunction in France, Parisian tech darling Mistral AI SAS bagged a €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) investment from Dutch chip-machine-maker ASML Holding NV that values the startup at €11.7 billion. The pair also signed a strategic partnership that will deepen ties. It’s a deal that’s raising eyebrows — this is somewhat outside ASML’s core hardware business — but it has a lot going for it.

For ASML, it’s a chance to sprinkle the pixie dust of AI at a time when its business outlook is getting cloudier and its shares are treading water. ASML is ...