Apple acquires fundamental AI smarts by buying DarwinAI

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Can Apple buy its way to AI dominance?
Image: Steve Johnson/Unsplash License/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly purchased DarwinAI, a small startup previously based in Waterloo, Ontario. The company developed software that might make artificial intelligence systems running on an iPhone or other computer more efficient.

Apple promised that it’ll have big AI-related announcements later this year, and the acquisition will help the company build the necessary software.

Apple’s DarwinAI is likely about efficient AI systems

2024 will bring a big AI push from the iPhone-maker. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with GenAI and AI,” CEO Tim Cook said in February. “We’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year.”

And acquiring DarwinAI is a part of that, according to a report in Bloomberg on Thursday.

DarwinAI developed an AI-based system for visual quality inspection. Its software could check that items met quality requirements by looking at them. But that might not be why Apple bought the company.

The startup also created Generative Synthesis, a method to analyze an existing AI system developed by training and make a new system that does the same task but more efficiently. And the new system explains to developers/users why it does what it does — something many AI systems can not do.

As Apple is undoubtedly planning to run AI from an iPhone, it’ll need systems that are as efficient as possible.

Another result of the DarwinAI acquisition is additional AI expertise. “Dozens of DarwinAI’s employees have joined Apple’s artificial intelligence division,” reports Bloomberg. And Alexander Wong, who was the company’s chief scientist, became an Apple director.

The deal seems to have become effective at the end of 2023 — that’s when darwinai.com disappeared off the web.

Apple and AI

This is hardly Apple’s first artificial intelligence-related acquisition — it bought no less than 32 AI startups in 2023 alone, more than any other major tech company.

And Cupertino freed up a lot of its employees skilled in AI development when it cancelled its self-driving car project in February.  Many developers from that project went into other artificial intelligence projects at the company.

We’ll almost certainly learn more about Apple’s big push into AI at WWDC 2024 in June. Early leaks already indicate that iOS 18 will include new generative AI features, and iPhone 16 will sport a processor designed to run artificial intelligence software more quickly.