[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]  Rohan Paul [@rohanpaul_ai](/creator/twitter/rohanpaul_ai) on x 74K followers Created: 2025-07-14 10:39:41 UTC Apple “will seriously consider” acquiring French startup Mistral AI, as per Bloomberg 📌 What makes Mistral attractive Mistral was founded in 2023 by former Meta and Google researchers. It has raised a little over $XXX B and is valued at about €5.8 B. A fresh round of up to $X B led by Abu Dhabi-backed fund MGX is being negotiated now, which could push the price higher. Microsoft paid €15 M in 2024 for a minority stake and secured first-run access to Mistral-Large on Azure. Mistral’s open-weight Mixtral models and its “Le Chat” consumer bot give Apple a ready-made foundation-model stack that is lighter than GPT-4 yet competitive on many benchmarks. 📌 Why Apple is shopping Apple Intelligence remains behind schedule and key talent has left, including the head of foundation models Ruoming Pang, who moved to Meta last week. Earlier reports revealed Apple had already weighed Perplexity and Thinking Machines Lab, but talks stalled. Buying Mistral would supply a complete team, model zoo, and European data centers. 📌 Roadblocks Mistral markets itself as Europe’s sovereign AI champion, enjoys open support from President Macron, and is central to France’s strategy to keep cutting-edge models in Europe. Any foreign takeover would trigger France’s FDI screening rules and EU merger scrutiny, especially because Microsoft already owns a stake. Analysts note that Paris could deploy a “golden-share” style veto or push Mistral toward an eventual Paris IPO instead of a sale. 📌 Likely valuation and timing Based on the current €5.8 B mark and the new MGX financing, bankers quoted in Bloomberg say Apple would need to offer at least €10 B ($10.8 B) to gain board attention, well above its typical sub-$1 B AI acqui-hires. Apple’s largest deal so far remains the $X B Beats purchase in 2014. Matching or topping that would be a notable break from its conservative M&A playbook.  XXXXX engagements  **Related Topics** [meta](/topic/meta) [bloomberg](/topic/bloomberg) [coins ai](/topic/coins-ai) [$googl](/topic/$googl) [stocks communication services](/topic/stocks-communication-services) [microsoft](/topic/microsoft) [stocks technology](/topic/stocks-technology) [Post Link](https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/1944708372701368642)
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Rohan Paul @rohanpaul_ai on x 74K followers
Created: 2025-07-14 10:39:41 UTC
Apple “will seriously consider” acquiring French startup Mistral AI, as per Bloomberg
📌 What makes Mistral attractive
Mistral was founded in 2023 by former Meta and Google researchers. It has raised a little over $XXX B and is valued at about €5.8 B.
A fresh round of up to $X B led by Abu Dhabi-backed fund MGX is being negotiated now, which could push the price higher.
Microsoft paid €15 M in 2024 for a minority stake and secured first-run access to Mistral-Large on Azure.
Mistral’s open-weight Mixtral models and its “Le Chat” consumer bot give Apple a ready-made foundation-model stack that is lighter than GPT-4 yet competitive on many benchmarks.
📌 Why Apple is shopping
Apple Intelligence remains behind schedule and key talent has left, including the head of foundation models Ruoming Pang, who moved to Meta last week.
Earlier reports revealed Apple had already weighed Perplexity and Thinking Machines Lab, but talks stalled.
Buying Mistral would supply a complete team, model zoo, and European data centers.
📌 Roadblocks
Mistral markets itself as Europe’s sovereign AI champion, enjoys open support from President Macron, and is central to France’s strategy to keep cutting-edge models in Europe.
Any foreign takeover would trigger France’s FDI screening rules and EU merger scrutiny, especially because Microsoft already owns a stake. Analysts note that Paris could deploy a “golden-share” style veto or push Mistral toward an eventual Paris IPO instead of a sale.
📌 Likely valuation and timing
Based on the current €5.8 B mark and the new MGX financing, bankers quoted in Bloomberg say Apple would need to offer at least €10 B ($10.8 B) to gain board attention, well above its typical sub-$1 B AI acqui-hires.
Apple’s largest deal so far remains the $X B Beats purchase in 2014. Matching or topping that would be a notable break from its conservative M&A playbook.
XXXXX engagements
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