Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said.
Photo: AFP
While this initiative has been in progress for several years, the exact timeline or potential release date remains uncertain, the report said.
The Cupertino, California-based company has been playing catch-up with its peers in generative AI, the technology underpinning chatbots and other popular new tools. The company is preparing to unveil a new strategy for AI at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month.
“We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI and we’re making significant investments,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Reuters last week.
Apple’s server chip would primarily focus on running AI models, a process known as inference, rather than training AI models.
The company has been working closely with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to design and initiate production of the chips, although it is uncertain if the collaboration has delivered definitive results, the Journal reported.
Apple’s approach is expected to focus on new proactive features that can assist users in their daily lives. The company also has held talks with potential partners like Alphabet Inc’s Google and OpenAI to supply generative AI services.
If Apple goes ahead with its own server processor, it would follow several of the largest tech companies in doing so. Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft Corp and Meta Platforms Inc all operate data centers that run on in-house designed semiconductors to some extent. Such efforts have eroded the traditional dominance of Intel Corp’s components.
Meanwhile, Apple planned to hold a virtual event yesterday in which it is expected to show new iPad models, some of which could come with a new chip aimed at speeding up AI tasks carried out on the devices.
Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said upgraded iPads could be a way for Apple to get new chips onto the market ahead of its developer conference next month, where it might reveal more about how it plans to address AI.
Additional reporting by Reuters
SECOND-RATE: Models distilled from US products do not perform the same as the original and undo measures that ensure the systems are neutral, the US’ cable said The US Department of State has ordered a global push to bring attention to what it said are widespread efforts by Chinese companies, including artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek (深度求索), to steal intellectual property from US AI labs, according to a diplomatic cable. The cable, dated Friday and sent to diplomatic and consular posts around the world, instructs diplomatic staff to speak to their foreign counterparts about “concerns over adversaries’ extraction and distillation of US AI models.” Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using output from larger, more expensive ones to lower the costs of training a powerful new
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai is deepening a push into enterprise software, signaling to investors at Google’s annual cloud conference that artificial intelligence (AI) agents — human-like digital assistants — are a lynchpin of its strategy to monetize AI. At the three-day conference in Las Vegas that started yesterday, Pichai and key Google executives aim to position the company’s AI tools as production-ready infrastructure for enterprise customers who are emerging as the industry’s most reliable revenue stream. Mountain View, California-based Google yesterday announced that it was unifying a set of AI products under the name “Gemini Enterprise.” Most notably, that involves rebranding and
RSS