Apple buys Darwin AI as part of its AI push

Apple's not messing around with AI. They quietly snapped up Canadian startup DarwinAI, known for making AI models smaller and faster – perfect for running AI straight on your devices. This is prep for the big AI upgrades they've promised for 2024.

What's going on here?

Apple's playing catch-up in the AI race and bolstering its team for a major generative AI push this year.

What does this mean?

Darvin AI’s main focus has been in manufacturing but it has done some work in shrinking AI models to smaller sizes and making them run faster. That could be Apple’s big plan with this acquisition (as they’re all about privacy and local data).

Dozens of folks from DarwinAI’s team have joined Apple’s broader generative AI team and Alexander Wong, the co-founder is on the “director” rank in Apple's AI army.

Why should I care?

We're likely to see everyday AI get a major Apple-flavored upgrade soon—a better Siri is the most awaited one. And can Apple make on-device AI work?

Samsung and Google have tried but many “powerful” features send your data to the cloud, where the big LLMs sit. On-device AI could open exciting possibilities for privacy, as your data wouldn't need to leave your device for these cool features to work.