Apple has taken a further step towards consolidating its position in the field of artificial intelligence with the acquisition of DarwinAI, a startup based in Canada. A move that highlights Apple’s commitment to compete head-to-head with Microsoft or Google in the AI market and from which we should see the first results in just a couple of months.
DarwinAI is now part of Apple
DarwinAI stands out in its field for having developed artificial intelligence technology aimed at inspecting components during manufacturing processes, as well as for its focus on creating smaller and more efficient AI systems. Innovations that promise to improve Apple’s production processes, on the one hand, but that are also key to the development of AI applications that require lower resource consumption, a crucial aspect for mobile devices and other electronic devices.
The acquisition, which was reported by Bloomberg, has led to the disappearance of DarwinAI’s online presence; their website and social media accounts have been deactivated after the purchase. This is a common practice in acquisitions of this nature, where the technology and talent of the acquired company are fully integrated into the buyer’s operations. According to reports, dozens of former DarwinAI employees are now part of Apple’s artificial intelligence division, including AI researcher Alexander Wong, who played a crucial role in DarwinAI and now holds a director position in Apple’s AI group.
As in other occasions, Apple has confirmed its acquisition with its usual statement: “Apple occasionally acquires small technology companies. In general, we do not discuss our purpose or plans”. However, it is evident that the company is seeking to strengthen its capabilities in AI, particularly to enhance the artificial intelligence features in its upcoming versions of the operating systems iOS 18 and macOS 15.
To compete with services like Microsoft’s Bing, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and other generative AI offerings, Apple needs to integrate generative AI into a wide range of products. We already know, according to rumors, that the company is testing large language models, and it is expected that the features will arrive on Siri, Shortcuts, Messages, Apple Music, on our AirPods and much more, along with iOS 18.
The key to Apple’s approach, however, and the difference with Microsoft, OpenAI, or Google, is where these models are executed. While it is common to run AI directly in the cloud, Apple intends to follow a different strategy, one that protects our privacy: local execution. In this sense, DarwinAI’s experience in creating more compact and efficient AI systems is particularly valuable and can help the company implement the different models directly on our devices.
Let’s remember that Tim Cook has promised that the company will innovate with generative AI in 2024, anticipating that it “will offer transformative opportunities for our users”. With this acquisition, Apple’s AI team is strengthened with cutting-edge talent and technology, and at the same time, another piece is added to the puzzle that we would have to see resolved with iOS 18.
