Apple has acquired the artificial intelligence (AI) startup DarwinAI and has integrated numerous employees from the Canadian company into its AI division, as reported by Bloomberg News on Thursday.
The iPhone manufacturer completed the acquisition earlier this year, although the report did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, citing sources familiar with the matter. Neither Apple nor DarwinAI immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Compared to competitors like Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google, Apple has been relatively slower in implementing generative AI technology, which can produce human-like responses to written prompts, into its products.
As part of the acquisition, Alexander Wong, an AI researcher from the University of Waterloo who played a key role in DarwinAI’s development, has joined Apple as a director within its AI group, according to the report.
DarwinAI specializes in AI technology for visually inspecting manufacturing components and serves clients across various industries, Bloomberg noted.