Apple buys AI startup Darwin AI for more efficient generative AI

Apple has acquired Canadian AI startup DarwinAI and integrated dozens of its employees into its AI division. DarwinAI develops technologies for visual inspection of components during manufacturing and specializes in making AI systems smaller and faster. The latter should be of particular interest to Apple, which needs to scale generative AI for millions of customers. The acquisition comes ahead of Apple's big push into generative AI with iOS 18: details are expected to be revealed at Apple's WWDC developer conference this summer. Apple is reportedly integrating generative AI into its customer service and is planning features to automatically create presentations and fill in text blocks. Apple is also developing an AI-based version of its Xcode programming software.