Report: Apple Discussed Buying Mistral AI and Perplexity

[MacRumors]

Apple executives have reportedly discussed acquiring Mistral AI and Perplexity, The Information reports.

Services chief Eddy Cue is apparently the most vocal advocate of a deal to buy AI firms to bolster the company's offerings. Cue previously supported propositions of Apple acquiring Netflix and Tesla, both of which Apple CEO Tim Cook turned down. Other executives such as software chief Craig Federighi have reportedly been reluctant to acquire AI startups, believing that Apple can build its own AI technology in-house.

Mistral AI is a Paris-based artificial intelligence company founded in 2023 that develops open-weight large language models designed to be smaller, faster, and easier to deploy than many competitors, while still delivering strong performance across reasoning and coding tasks. The company positions itself as a European alternative to American players like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Perplexity is a U.S.-based artificial intelligence company that builds an AI-powered search and answer engine combining large language models with real-time web indexing to provide cited, conversational responses. Unlike traditional search engines, it prioritizes transparency by showing sources alongside answers, positioning itself as an alternative to Google for information retrieval.

Apple is said to be hesitant to do a deal, which would likely cost billions of dollars. Apple has rarely spent more than a hundred million dollars on an acquision, with Beats at $3 billion and Intel's wireless modem business at $1 billion.

If a federal ruling ends the $20 billion deal between Apple and Alphabet that makes Google the default search engine on its devices, the company could be compelled to acquire an AI-powered search startup to fill that gap. For now, Apple apparently told bankers that it plans to continue with its strategy of focusing on smaller deals in AI.

Article Link: Report: Apple Discussed Buying Mistral AI and Perplexity

 

[turbineseaplane]

Should have been spending time & money on more important things than the scuba mask vanity project for Tim Cook.

The Siri / AI situation is a total dumpster fire..

 

[thiscatisfat]

Meanwhile at Google:

Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year

Now THAT is a headline.

 

[Total Respray]

Sounds like they’re scrambling rather than strategising.

 

[teknikal90]

All that time and effort chasing the electric car.
Then VR.
LLM models will be the same.
Goose chases. There is no promise land yet in foreseeable future for these cash burning endeavours.

 

[attohs]

Apple has made a very good argument against investing in these products. https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/illusion-of-thinking

 

[crsh1976]

The AI bubble has plenty enough time to burst before Apple makes up its mind on how not to miss the AI train, apparently.

 

[hugodrax]

waste of money paying a P/E of like 3000 for these companies. this is all about impressing wall street for short term bonuses at the expense of the long term future of Apple. Sad to see one day the company might implode again.

 

[Steve01234]

consider if Apple had bought Tesla 5-6 years ago, making Tim Elon's boss 🤯 especially if Elon was let go entirely . consider how differently the current timeline would of played out -

 

[mclihah2]

It really feels like they are botching this AI adoption thing

 

[ghanwani]

Billions of dollars is a small deal these days. A trillion would be a big deal.

 

[PowerButton]

Perplexity is a waste of money, IMO. It’s a RAG system that relies on external LLMs which adds a lot of risks. I think its $18 billion valuation is a bit too high. It’s more based on funding and hype than on actual value.

 

[ducknalddon]

Better to sit back and wait for the AI bubble to burst. Then they will be able to pick up these companies for a fraction of their current valuations.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

consider if Apple had bought Tesla 5-6 years ago, making Tim Elon's boss 🤯 especially if Elon was let go entirely . consider how differently the current timeline would of played out -

Tim would have pivoted the company to working on gas cars and everyone would have left. Maybe Lucid or Fisker is more successful in this hypothetical timeline.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

consider if Apple had bought Tesla 5-6 years ago, making Tim Elon's boss 🤯 especially if Elon was let go entirely . consider how differently the current timeline would of played out -

They would have botched it. Apple isn't a car company wouldn't be able to manage it properly.

 

[SilmarilFinder]

Buying a company is one thing; integrating its abilities into your products is another. It will take years.

Apple bought Pixelmator, and we got the amazing Photos app update in iOS 18, while we were waiting for a much better editing capabilities.

And of course we have Siri acquisition 15 years ago...

 

[GioGiusi]

I'll be honest, I don't want Apple to buy a popular or successful AI company. I want to see what those companies do on their own, without the chains Apple will put on them. I have zero confidence in Tim Cook's Apple not to ruin a good company if they buy it. Really it just comes down to the fact that Apple needs new leadership.

 

[attohs]

They would have botched it. Apple isn't a car company wouldn't be able to manage it properly.

Tesla is a robotics company that happens to make cars. Not a car company.

 

[DrWojtek]

The AI bubble has plenty enough time to burst before Apple makes up its mind on how not to miss the AI train, apparently.

It may be a bubble regarding value of businesses, but the value AI brings is not overstated, rather the opposite. ChatGPT in combo with regular googling replaces so much. The future for knowledge-based jobs is poor. This is only the beginning.

The funny/sad thing is that you have to be at least average intelligent to use them, too. Meaning the upper part will leap even further ahead.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Tesla is a robotics company that happens to make cars. Not a car company.

Yea, I've heard Elon's drivel as well.

 

[Runaway Train]

Buying a company is one thing; integrating its abilities into your products is another. It will take years.

Apple bought Pixelmator, and we got the amazing Photos app update in iOS 18, while we were waiting for a much better editing capabilities.

And of course we have Siri acquisition 15 years ago...

This is absolutely true. The small company I worked for many years ago was aquired by a large global tech giant. Some years later I was point on integrating another software company (we) bought. Seen it from both ends. It « can » work, but it takes time and if the company cultures are too far apart it will fail to realize the objective, and as per above, yes it will take years. That said Apple has reached a size where it becomes very difficult to innovate in house.

In the end, if they just focus on making sure the products they make today continue to evolve into the future, that would be enough. AI is now the buzz-word du jour. Remember « cloud », « ASP », « e internet of things ». A bunch of b_ll sh_t. To quote the legendary basketball coach and motivational speaker John Wooden: « never let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do ».

 

[crobcary]

Perplexity is a waste of money, IMO. It’s a RAG system that relies on external LLMs which adds a lot of risks. I think its $18 billion valuation is a bit too high. It’s more based on funding and hype than on actual value.

It does have its own model, “Sonar,” but Perplexity’s functionality revolves around being able to unplug one LLM and plug into another. It’s a real-time search engine that’s largely replaced traditional search for me. I don’t use Google and now I rarely use Bing anymore. Comet is a good browser and its agentic stuff is useful. The main founder is very performative and the company has been splashy, but the product itself is good—and it solves Apple’s search problems.

 

[rp2011]

Mistral AI is not a bad idea, especially as it's open source and gives Apple access to the work of a world wide network of developers working on projects for their specific needs and vice versa. I like this idea, especially as it's such a nascent technology and it leverages the open source community.
Not only that it offers a lot of Apple-ready goodies right off the bat. Privacy, runs efficiently on lower powered devices. Good fit.

Where it comes to LLM's such as Perplexity, I think these companies are still on the hook, and subject to the liabilities all LLM's still face and that they have not fully washed their hands from. And Apple buying them now before the legalities with LLM's are better settled, Apple may face added scrutiny via ambulance chasing lawyers and governmental entities in the UK and EU that Apple knows too well, and who will doggedly chase Daddy Warbucks up and down Cupertino and everywhere they go and all over the world until they cough up money for whatever new thing they can come up with.

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

what technology and talent does perplexity have that apple doesn't??

 

[crsh1976]

It may be a bubble regarding value of businesses, but the value AI brings is not overstated, rather the opposite. ChatGPT in combo with regular googling replaces so much. The future for knowledge-based jobs is poor. This is only the beginning.

The funny/sad thing is that you have to be at least average intelligent to use them, too. Meaning the upper part will leap even further ahead.

Let's not mix things up - AI tools for businesses and AI gimmicks as part of consumer operating systems/devices are two different things. The first may make the second possible, but still.