Apple in the Market For AI: Why the iPhone-Maker is Considering Buying Mistral & Perplexity

Apple executives have held internal discussions about acquiring two high-profile AI start-ups, Mistral and Perplexity, as the iPhone maker looks to accelerate its AI roadmap, The Information reported.

The conversations, first reported by The Information and corroborated by other outlets, reflect a growing willingness at Apple to consider bigger, strategic AI deals after a long period of conservative M&A.

Apple’s interest in large AI targets follows public comments by CEO Tim Cook that the company is now “open to” larger acquisitions to speed development of on-device and cloud AI capabilities.

The shift comes as rivals press ahead with aggressive AI rollouts and as Apple works to integrate stronger generative AI into Siri, Spotlight and other services.

Mistral, backed by investors including Nvidia, Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed, was valued at roughly €5.8bn (about $6bn) after a June 2024 financing and is reportedly seeking further funding that could push its valuation toward $10bn.

Perplexity has also drawn heavyweight backers such as Nvidia and Jeff Bezos and is viewed as one of the fast-rising independent players in conversational search. Both companies are seen as attractive to Apple because of their model technology and product momentum.

Acquisition Terms

Acquiring either firm would give Apple prebuilt model stacks, research teams and product integrations that could materially speed improvements to Siri and system search. But any deal faces cultural and regulatory hurdles: Apple historically prefers small, tuck-in purchases (its last blockbuster was Beats in 2014), and large, high-priced acquisitions would mark a notable break from that pattern.

Apple also must weigh antitrust scrutiny and the steep valuations being sought by leading AIstart-ups.

Observers will be watching whether Apple moves from exploratory discussions to formal bids, how it proposes to finance any transaction, and whether it pursues partnerships instead of outright acquisitions.

The choices Apple makes will signal how urgently it intends to close its AI gap with Google, Microsoft and others.

The reported interest in Mistral and Perplexity shows Apple is actively rethinking its approach to AI talent and technology, a potential turning point for a company that has largely built its own stack but now faces fast-moving competitors and a market that prizes scale and speed.