Apple has held internal discussions about buying French start-up Mistral AI and U.S. search specialist Perplexity, according to a report by The Information confirmed by Reuters. The talks signal that the iPhone maker is exploring unusually large takeovers to strengthen its artificial-intelligence offering, an area where it trails Alphabet’s Google and Samsung. Mistral, founded in 2023, was valued at more than $6 billion after a Series B round last year and is now said to be seeking $1 billion in new funding at a $10 billion valuation. Perplexity, which builds a conversational search engine, counts Nvidia and Jeff Bezos among its backers. Perplexity told Reuters it is unaware of any merger discussions involving the company; Apple and Mistral declined to comment. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said last month that Apple is prepared to pursue larger AI-related acquisitions, marking a shift from its historically frugal deal-making—the $3 billion purchase of Beats in 2014 remains its biggest. Within Apple, services head Eddy Cue is said to favor external deals, while software chief Craig Federighi argues the company can develop AI technology in-house. No formal bids have been made, and any transaction would be subject to regulatory review.