Apple is eyeing the invisible giants of AI: Mistral and Perplexity in its sights | Festina Lente - Your leading source of AI news | Turtles AI

Apple has begun internal discussions about acquiring AI startups Mistral and Perplexity, driven by a shift in its approach toward more ambitious deals. The discussions, not yet public or confirmed, reflect the need to strengthen AI.

Key Points:

• Apple explores the acquisition of Mistral (France) and Perplexity (USA)
• Tim Cook opens to larger-scale AI mergers and acquisitions
• Eddy Cue is pushed toward more aggressive deals, Federighi resists
• The startups’ valuations are in the billions of dollars

Apple is in a moment of introspection, almost like a mountain climber about to challenge a previously avoided wall: the company’s management, known for its caution in extraordinary deals, is considering moves that emphasize speed and ambition. The target of the contender? AI startups: the French company Mistral and the US company Perplexity, two companies characterized by technologies at the forefront of the global scene. The news was reported by The Information, which was picked up by Reuters on August 26, 2025.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple appears eager to accelerate its AI roadmap, a marked shift from its traditional aversion to splashy acquisitions. This shift in direction is also confirmed by comments from Tim Cook, who last month openly declared his willingness to make "larger AI-related acquisitions."

At the heart of this drive for momentum is Eddy Cue, vice president of services: sources such as MacRumors portray him as the leading advocate for aggressive AI operations, a position that has previously seen him promote potential acquisitions of Netflix and Tesla (both of which were later rejected). In contrast, Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief, remains convinced that the solution lies in building the technology internally rather than bridging the gap with megadeals.

The battleground has specific names: Mistral, founded in 2023 in Paris, is known for its open, fast, and high-performance language models for reasoning and coding, and aspires to be a European alternative to the US giants; Perplexity, based in the United States, offers a conversational AI search engine that displays sources in real time, adopting a transparent approach to information retrieval.

The valuation issue is far from negligible. According to Reuters, Mistral, backed by Nvidia, has exceeded a $6 billion valuation after a Series B round, with speculation of a raise of up to $10 billion. Other sources even speak of figures that could exceed €15 billion, nearly $16 billion, if the deal were to materialize. As for Perplexity, some estimates suggest a value of around $14–$20 billion, although more conservative ones are more common.

At the same time, a context is developing in which Apple’s position toward search engines, currently guaranteed by an agreement with Google, could change dramatically: an antitrust decision on the contract could push Cupertino toward the need for its own AI engine, further fueling interest in Perplexity.

However, there are currently no concrete offers or official responses: neither Apple, Mistral, nor Perplexity have commented publicly, while Reuters emphasizes that the news has not been independently verified. Bloomberg also reported in June that Apple was considering Perplexity as a potential target, motivated by a desire to bring fresh talent and technologies to Siri and its proprietary AI offering.

Apple is walking a fine line between established caution and the temptation to leap forward: the conversation is ongoing, valuations are impacting, but nothing is yet finalized.