Apple internally discussed buying Mistral, Perplexity: Report

Apple has held talks internally about acquiring French AI startup Mistral as well as Perplexity, the Information reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Apple has trailed rivals such as Google and Samsung in terms of roll-out of AI features in its devices.

CEO Tim Cook signaled last month that Apple was open to larger AI-related acquisitions to accelerate its roadmap, a shift from its historically conservative M&A posture.


Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Apple, Mistral and Perplexity did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Nvidia-backed Mistral was valued at more than $6 billion after its Series B funding round last year and the Financial Times reported this month that the French company was in talks to raise $1 billion at a valuation of $10 billion.

Executives at the iPhone maker have held internal talks about potentially bidding for Nvidia and Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity, Bloomberg News reported earlier this year.