Apple’s great AI overhaul is set to launch later this year, bringing a revamped Siri experience and an updated Apple Intelligence platform. Ahead of the release, the bitten fruit brand is apparently aiming to bolster its AI infrastructure. According to The Information, the tech giant is looking to acquire AI chip companies.
As per the outlet’s report, Apple has been in talks with bankers about possible deals. At the same time, the company has approached semiconductor startups to gauge their interest. The publication went on to mention that Apple’s search for chip acquisitions comes amid its struggles with the performance of its own AI servers, which currently run on M2 Ultra processors.
As one would imagine, the company’s own data centres aren’t quite up to snuff when it comes to advanced AI workloads. Apparently, the limitations became clear during the development of Siri AI. During this period, engineers reportedly attempted to run Google’s Gemini models on Apple’s server infrastructure and discovered that it could not handle a model of that scale. As such, the brand has to resort to using NVIDIA chips within Google’s cloud infrastructure for the more demanding tasks.
Of course, some AI processing is still handled on Apple’s servers. But as AI continues to develop, its hardware demands will keep increasing. So, the iPhone maker is looking to bolster its own capabilities to avoid relying on NVIDIA. Its own AI server chip, internally referred to as Baltra, was supposed to launch this year, but has been delayed. Other than that, the brand is reportedly working on a server chip based on the M5 Ultra, as well as the M7 Ultra. The latter is expected to heavily focus on AI performance.
Acquiring outside chip expertise could support the ongoing development of these processors. That said, this would be a departure from its usual financial strategy. The company typically avoids large purchases, although its acquisition of Israeli firm Q.ai in January signals a shift in the company’s approach. Apple paid almost US$2 billion (~RM8 billion) for the audio AI startup, making it the company’s second biggest acquisition after Beats.
Meanwhile, Apple Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh previously told analysts during a recent quarterly earnings call that the brand would no longer target a net cash-neutral position. At the same time, the company is undergoing a leadership transition, which could bring more changes to its acquisition strategy.
(Source: The Information via MacRumors)
