Apple Is on the Hunt for AI Chip Makers — The Information

Apple is exploring opportunities to acquire companies specializing in AI chips so it can develop its own server processors for AI applications. The Information reported this on Wednesday, citing sources. Reuters quoted the report.

According to The Information, the iPhone maker reached out to chip-developing startups to gauge their interest in selling their businesses and also discussed potential deals with banks. Apple’s interest arose amid performance issues with its own AI servers, which currently run on Apple’s in-house M2 Ultra chips, the publication reports.

Apple had previously planned to begin production of its server AI chip—known internally as Baltra—as early as this year, but the project has been postponed, according to sources who spoke with The Information.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The news agency notes that it was unable to independently verify The Information's report.

Earlier this year, Apple attempted to run Google’s Gemini models on its internal servers as part of an update to its Siri voice assistant, but the Mac-based chips were unable to handle the model. As a result, the company had to run parts of the updated assistant on Nvidia chips within Google’s cloud infrastructure, according to The Information.

Last week, Apple announced that it plans to spend more than $30 billion as part of a multi-year chip supply agreement with Broadcom.

Apple has historically avoided major acquisitions: its most recent deal to date was the purchase of the Israeli startup Q.ai, which specializes in AI technologies for audio. As of March 28, the company had $45.57 billion in cash or cash equivalents. Following its latest earnings report in late April, the company announced a change in its financial policy: this could be a hint at the tech giant’s plans to make a major acquisition in the AI sector, MarketWatch speculated.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor