Apple makes low-key acquisitions to enter the AI ​​field, but iOS 18 will make big moves

Apple has been the largest buyer of artificial intelligence companies, even surpassing Microsoft and Google.

#At a time when hundreds of flowers are blooming in the field of AI, Apple, as the world's top technology company, seems to have not made a big splash.

What is Apple’s layout in the field of AI? Perhaps a sentence from Apple CEO Tim Cook can answer our questions. Previously at the 2024 Apple Shareholders Meeting, Cook said that significant progress will be achieved in the field of GenAI this year. In addition, after Apple announced that it would abandon its 10-year-old car-making project, some members of the car-making team also began to turn to GenAI.

In this way, Apple has conveyed its determination to add GenAI to the outside world, and many people have begun to lament that Apple is finally no longer low-key in the field of generative AI. Obviously, after Apple announced that it had given up its car-building plan, it also conducted some fruitful research. Yesterday, Apple disclosed the multi-modal large model MM1 for the first time, which is a multi-modal LLM series with up to 30B parameters.

In addition to publishing academic papers, Apple has begun gearing up for strategic acquisitions.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has added another artificial intelligence startup DarwinAI to its list of acquisitions, which is known for developing visual inspection of parts during the manufacturing process. famous for AI technology. Additionally, the startup's expertise in creating smaller, faster AI systems aligns with Apple's focus on running AI on-device, rather than just cloud-based solutions. Perhaps, Apple took a fancy to this and this acquisition was completed.

#The acquisition comes as Apple prepares to make a major push into the field of generative artificial intelligence in 2024. Cook has promised to break new ground in artificial intelligence this year, with an announcement expected at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Although Apple has acquired more AI companies than most rivals over the past decade, it still lags behind in the generative AI market.

While Apple and DarwinAI have not yet announced the deal, several members of the startup’s team joined Apple in January, according to LinkedIn profiles. According to reports, Alexander Wong, an artificial intelligence researcher at the University of Waterloo and a key figure in the construction of DarwinAI, has joined Apple as director of the artificial intelligence team.

## DarwinAI co-founder and COO Arif Virani’s work experience has changed from DarwinAI to Apple.

DarwinAI VP of People Operations Kelly Pritchard also showed up joining Apple.

Currently, DarwinAI’s website is also inaccessible.

In addition, other news shows that DarwinAI has raised more than $15 million in funding from investors, including BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund, Honeywell Ventures, Obvious Ventures and Inovia Capital.BDC Capital has received news of DarwinAI's exit on its website, while Obvious Ventures updated its portfolio to show that the startup has been acquired.

There are various signs that Apple has indeed acquired DarwinAI. However, BDC Capital and Obvious Ventures have not yet commented on the matter.

The acquisition of DarwinAI, in addition to helping Apple improve manufacturing efficiency, the technology developed by DarwinAI can make artificial intelligence models smaller and faster. This research will be helpful for Apple’s introduction of generative AI in iOS 18 this year.

Gene Munster, managing partner of Deepwater Asset Management, wrote on X: DarwinAI’s technology may be extended to Apple’s supply chain, which is used by Apple to improve parts manufacturing common methods of efficiency.

In fact, DarwinAI is just the latest artificial intelligence startup that Apple has acquired in recent years. Apple has been the largest buyer of artificial intelligence and machine learning since 2017, acquiring nearly twice as many companies as Microsoft and Meta.

Despite the acquisition, Apple still needs to catch up in the generative AI race as OpenAI, Google and Microsoft launch their own products. But as early as last year, Apple’s CEO confirmed investment in the GenAI project. Apple's job listings indicate that the company is exploring integrating artificial intelligence into multiple internal and external areas, including Siri, developer tools, and customer support.

I believe Apple will soon produce results in GenAI. "We will continue to spend a lot of time and energy, and at the same time we are excited to share details of our ongoing work in this area later this year." Cook's remarks on the quarterly earnings call also hinted at this. Apple has already made efforts in the field of GenAI, and everyone can wait and see.

DarwinAI Introduction

DarwinAI was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Canada. Mainly focusing on artificial intelligence, neural networks, deep learning, machine learning, software and other fields. This is a rapidly growing visual quality inspection company that provides manufacturers with end-to-end solutions to improve product quality and increase production efficiency.

DarwinAI’s CEO is Sheldon Fernandez and Alexander Wong is the company’s chief scientist. ^{## Darwinai's employee and company CEO SHELDON FELDONANDEZ By the end of the year, DarwinAI had raised more than $15 million. The startup has worked with partners including Intel and Lockheed Martin. After being acquired by Apple, I don’t know what kind of sparks will collide.}

Reference link:

https://techcrunch.com/ 2024/03/14/apple-acquires-ai-startup-specializing-in-overlooking-manufacturing-components/

^{https://qz.com/ apple-generative-ai-buy-canadian-startup-darwinai-1851336368}

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