In short about Apple Buys DarwinAI
- Apple quietly acquired Canada’s DarwinAI.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised a major AI announcement in 2024.
- Alexander Wong become director for Apple AI Group.
According to Bloomberg News, Apple has acquired Darwin AI and has hired dozens of employees from the Canadian company to make Darwin more and more efficient. Apple purchased the company earlier this year, citing people familiar with the situation. The report made no mention of the deal’s value. The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. However, Apple has been slower to introduce generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, than competitors, which are incorporating it into their products.
According to the report, Mark Gurman – the Cupertino-based tech behemoth not only acquired DarwinAI, but also hired many of its employees. Gurman also revealed, citing unnamed sources, that the new employees have joined Apple’s AI division. The acquisition is believed to have occurred recently, as the report suggests that the deal may be officially announced later. Moreover, the report further state, “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 agreement.”
Apple Major AI announcement
While Cook hinted that AI would be a major focus for the company in 2024, he did not reveal what the company has planned. Some rumors suggest that Apple is working on its native foundation model, known as AppleGPT.
Other rumored features include an improved Siri that can act as a chatbot like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, AI-generated playlists for Apple Music, AI integration into Apple’s productivity apps like Pages and Keynote, and more.
It is also reported that the iOS 18 update, which is expected to be released later this year alongside the iPhone 16 series, will include several new AI features for Apple phones.
ALSO READ: The World Now Has An AI Software Engineer Called ‘Devin’ – Access, Capabilities and All
