Apple acquires startup DarwinAI and next iPhone may come with AI features

Apple has acquired another artificial intelligence (AI) startup that is vital to the company’s strategy in the industry. The company in question is DarwinAI, a Canadian company wholly owned by Maça.

According to BloombergThe negotiation concluded in early 2024. But Apple itself It hasn’t officially announced the purchase and there are no details about the amount involved. in process. DarwinAI receives $15 million investment in 2022; This shows that the purchase was at least this amount.

As a result of the acquisition, Apple acquired DarwinAI’s employees. Researcher Alexander Wong, one of the founders of the startup, became the director of Apple’s artificial intelligence division.

DarwinAI’s expertise optimize services and platforms running from the device itselfivo without depending on cloud resources. Technology created by startup Optimizes AI systems to run more agile and cost-effectivelyThis could be useful on a possible operating system like iOS 18 or devices like the iPhone 16.

Apple’s plans for artificial intelligence will be announced in 2024

Apple’s move to acquire companies in the sector has been going on for a while. In recent years, even without launching its own AI services, it acquired Xnoar.ai to improve image recognition and WaveOne, which creates video compression algorithms, to name a few examples.

The company would have invested more than R$100 billion in this segment in 2023 alone. Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised that the company will launch “revolutionary” productive AI in 2024 after being left behind in the market by initiatives from rivals such as Google and Microsoft.

It can either be integrated into the Siri personal assistant or work independently on iPhones to be introduced this year. The company even canceled its electric car launch project in order to devote more time, investment and employees to the sector.