Apple discusses acquisition of Mistral AI and Perplexity

Apple is apparently considering whether acquiring Mistral AI or Perplexity might be a viable option. According to a report by The Information, company executives have discussed such acquisitions. This raises the question of whether Apple will rely on acquisitions in the field of artificial intelligence or continue to rely on its own developments.

Artificial intelligence has long been a central topic for major tech companies. While Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI are aggressively expanding their models and products, Apple has traditionally been more reserved. The company invests heavily in internal research but operates cautiously in the acquisition market. The discussion surrounding Mistral AI and Perplexity shows that Apple could also be rethinking its approach – driven by growing pressure and changing conditions.

Internal discussions at Apple

Services CEO Eddy Cue is considered the driving force behind these considerations. He is said to be a vocal supporter of acquiring AI startups to expand Apple's offerings in the field of artificial intelligence. Cue has also proposed acquiring large companies like Netflix and Tesla in the past, but CEO Tim Cook rejected this. On the other side are executives like Software CEO Craig Federighi, who oppose multi-billion dollar acquisitions. They are convinced that Apple can develop its own technologies and thus remain competitive.

Mistral AI: Small models with powerful performance

Mistral AI was founded in Paris in 2023 and develops open language models. Its approach: The models are smaller, faster, and easier to use than many competing products, yet still deliver good results in tasks such as logical reasoning and programming. The startup deliberately positions itself as a European alternative to major US providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. For Apple, Mistral AI would thus not only be a technical addition but also an opportunity to more closely integrate the European AI ecosystem.

Perplexity: Transparent search with AI

The US company Perplexity is pursuing a different strategy. It is developing a search and answer engine that combines large-scale language models with real-time web indexing. What's special about it is that the answers contain direct source information, thus creating transparency. Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity focuses on conversational results and thus aims to offer an alternative to Google. This very point could become relevant for Apple if the existing $20 billion deal with Alphabet, which makes Google the default search engine on Apple devices, ends.

Cost issue and previous strategy

Apple is known for its cautious approach to acquisitions. Most deals remain below $100 million. Rare exceptions include the purchase of Beats for $3 billion and Intel's modem business for $1 billion. However, an acquisition of Mistral AI or Perplexity would cost billions and thus be on a completely different scale. According to the report, Apple has signaled to bankers that it intends to maintain its current strategy of smaller, targeted acquisitions in the AI space for the time being.

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Artificial intelligence as a key factor for Apple

The discussions surrounding Mistral AI and Perplexity make it clear that Apple is increasingly considering how artificial intelligence fits into the company's future. It's still unclear whether a major acquisition will actually happen. What is certain, however, is that Apple's dependence on Google for search and the growing importance of language models are putting pressure on it. Whether through its own solutions or through acquisitions, the role of AI will be crucial for Apple in the coming years. (Image: Shutterstock / iwonder TV)