Apple Inc is to deliver some of its upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) features this year via data centers equipped with its in-house processors, as part of a sweeping effort to infuse its devices with AI capabilities.
The company is placing high-end chips — similar to ones it designed for the Mac — in cloud computing servers designed to process the most advanced AI tasks coming to Apple devices, people familiar with the matter said.
Simpler AI-related features would be processed directly on iPhones, iPads and Macs, they said, asking not to be identified because the plan is still under wraps.
Photo: AP
The move is part of Apple’s much-anticipated push into generative AI — the technology behind ChatGPT and other popular tools.
The company is playing catch-up with big tech rivals in the area, but is poised to lay out an ambitious AI strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
Apple’s plan to use its own chips and process AI tasks in the cloud was hatched about three years ago, but the company accelerated the timeline after the AI craze — fueled by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini — forced it to move more quickly.
The first AI server would use the M2 Ultra chip, which was launched last year as part of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio computers, though the company is already eyeing future versions based on the M4 chip.
Relatively simple AI tasks — such as providing users a summary of their missed iPhone notifications or incoming text messages — could be handled by the chips inside of Apple devices.
More complicated jobs, such as generating images or summarizing lengthy news articles and creating long-form responses in e-mails, would likely require the cloud-based approach — as would an upgraded version of Apple’s Siri voice assistant.
The move, coming as part of Apple’s iOS 18 rollout in the fall, represents a shift for the company.
For years, Apple prioritized on-device processing, touting it as a better way to ensure security and privacy.
However, the components inside the processors can already safeguard user privacy, said people involved in the creation of the Apple server, called “Project ACDC” (Apple Chips in Data Centers). Apple uses an approach called Secure Enclave that can isolate data from a security breach.
For now, Apple is planning to use its own data centers to operate the cloud features, but it would eventually rely on outside facilities — as it does with iCloud and other services.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on some aspects of the server plan.
Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri hinted at the approach on an earnings call last week.
“We have our own data center capacity and then we use capacity from third parties,” Maestri said after being asked about the company’s AI infrastructure.
“It’s a model that has worked well for us historically, and we plan to continue along the same lines going forward,” he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) last week recorded an increase in the number of shareholders to the highest in almost eight months, despite its share price falling 3.38 percent from the previous week, Taiwan Stock Exchange data released on Saturday showed. As of Friday, TSMC had 1.88 million shareholders, the most since the week of April 25 and an increase of 31,870 from the previous week, the data showed. The number of shareholders jumped despite a drop of NT$50 (US$1.59), or 3.38 percent, in TSMC’s share price from a week earlier to NT$1,430, as investors took profits from their earlier gains
AI TALENT: No financial details were released about the deal, in which top Groq executives, including its CEO, would join Nvidia to help advance the technology Nvidia Corp has agreed to a licensing deal with artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Groq, furthering its investments in companies connected to the AI boom and gaining the right to add a new type of technology to its products. The world’s largest publicly traded company has paid for the right to use Groq’s technology and is to integrate its chip design into future products. Some of the start-up’s executives are leaving to join Nvidia to help with that effort, the companies said. Groq would continue as an independent company with a new chief executive, it said on Wednesday in a post on its Web
CHINA RIVAL: The chips are positioned to compete with Nvidia’s Hopper and Blackwell products and would enable clusters connecting more than 100,000 chips Moore Threads Technology Co (摩爾線程) introduced a new generation of chips aimed at reducing artificial intelligence (AI) developers’ dependence on Nvidia Corp’s hardware, just weeks after pulling off one of the most successful Chinese initial public offerings (IPOs) in years. “These products will significantly enhance world-class computing speed and capabilities that all developers aspire to,” Moore Threads CEO Zhang Jianzhong (張建中), a former Nvidia executive, said on Saturday at a company event in Beijing. “We hope they can meet the needs of more developers in China so that you no longer need to wait for advanced foreign products.” Chinese chipmakers are in
POLICY REVERSAL: The decision to allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China came after years of tightening controls and has drawn objections among some Republicans US House Republicans are calling for arms-sale-style congressional oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports as US President Donald Trump’s administration moves to approve licenses for Nvidia Corp to ship its H200 processor to China. US Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which oversees export controls, on Friday introduced a bill dubbed the AI Overwatch Act that would require the US Congress to be notified of AI chips sales to adversaries. Any processors equal to or higher in capabilities than Nvidia’s H20 would be subject to oversight, the draft bill says. Lawmakers would have
RSS