March 15, 2024: Apple has reportedly acquired Canadian startup DarwinAI, a deal that could significantly expand Apple’s AI ambitions.
Apple has not officially announced the acquisition, which took place earlier this year, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed it to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
DarwinAI, known for its expertise in developing AI systems that visually inspect components during manufacturing processes, has also seen a number of its employees join Apple’s AI division.
Most notably, the startup’s co-founder and chief scientist, Alexander Wong, has been hired by Apple to lead machine learning research.
The acquisition comes as Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasizes the company’s focus on AI development.
During the company’s quarterly earnings call in February, Cook said Apple was investing “a tremendous amount of time and effort” into AI and hinted at new AI-based features likely to be unveiled later this year.
There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding Apple’s AI plans, with rumors suggesting a native-based model called AppleGPT is in the works, which is an enhanced version of Siri that could function as a chatbot, similar to ChatGPT and Google Gemini, AI-generated playlists in Apple Music, and AI integrations into productivity apps like Pages and Keynote.
The iOS 18 update, which is expected to be released alongside the iPhone 16 series, is also rumored to bring several new AI features to Apple smartphones.
The acquisition of DarwinAI could be instrumental to Apple’s AI strategy, particularly the development of on-device AI models and capabilities.
This approach is consistent with Apple’s emphasis on user privacy and security, as it minimizes the need for cloud-based data processing with on-device AI processing.
As Apple continues to invest in AI and expand its capabilities, integrating DarwinAI’s expertise and technology could lead to significant advancements in the company’s products and services.
While the specifics of the acquisition and its implications remain under wraps, the tech community is eagerly anticipating Apple’s AI-driven innovations to be unveiled in the coming months.