DarwinAI has developed AI technology for visually inspecting components during the manufacturing process and serves customers in a range of industries. After Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini, Apple is planning to roll out its own generative AI that can write human-like responses. This system is expected to roll out on Apple devices eventually in the upcoming iOS 18 and macOS 15 operating systems.
Apple Inc. has bought artificial intelligence (AI) startup DarwinAI and added dozens of the Canadian company’s staffers to its AI division, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The iPhone maker purchased the business earlier this year, the report stated, citing people familiar with the matter. The report did not mention the deal value.
Apple has been slower in rolling out generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, than rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google, which are weaving them into products.
Alexander Wong, an AI researcher at the University of Waterloo who helped build DarwinAI’s business, has joined Apple as a director in its AI group as part of the deal, the report added.
While Apple and DarwinAI haven’t announced this deal, several members of the startup’s team joined Apple’s machine learning teams in January, as per their LinkedIn profiles.
DarwinAI had raised over $15 million in funding across various rounds from investors, including BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund, Honeywell Ventures, Obvious Ventures, and Inovia Capital. BDC Capital confirms on its website that it has received an exit from DarwinAI, whereas Obvious Ventures has updated its portfolio to reflect that the startup has been acquired. BDC Capital and Obvious Ventures didn’t comment on the story at the time of writing.
As Bloomberg noted in its report, apart from helping with manufacturing efficiency, DarwinAI uses techniques to make AI models smaller and faster. This could be useful for on-device generative AI features Apple hopes to introduce in iOS 18 this year.
Apple has lagged in releasing GenAI-powered features compared to competitors like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. In February, Tim Cook said the company plans to introduce such features “later this year.” “We continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort and we’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year,” Cook said during a quarterly earnings call with analysts.
Last year, the Apple CEO had confirmed investment into GenAI efforts. Apple’s job listings have suggested the company is exploring infusing AI in multiple internal and external areas, including Siri, developer tools, and customer support.
The company aims to tap into large language models (LLMs) to power features for Siri and the Messages app — including things like sentence completion — for the next version of iOS, per Bloomberg. The report noted that Apple is exploring generative AI-aided features in apps and services like Xcode to help developers (the job listing above could be indicative of that), AI-generated playlists for Apple Music, and AI-assisted writing for Pages and Keynote.
There have been reports about Apple developing its own “Apple GPT,” but the company hasn’t really deployed anything for consumers yet. On the other hand, the Cupertino-based company’s rivals, including Microsoft, Google, and Meta, are deploying AI-powered features across hardware and software products.
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- Shubham Chakraborty, a Freelance Writer, holds an MBA from XLRI and boasts 6.5 years of extensive corporate experience. Departing from his corporate path, he embarked on a journey to fulfill his childhood dream of focusing on writing.
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