AI: Apple leaning in on Small AI

...focus on where the AI puck is going

Apple’s latest AI move seems to emphasize the ‘Going Small to go Big’ in AI strategy that I’ve highlighted. Small AI in my view, is where the AI puck is going.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in “Apple buys Canadian AI Startup as it races to add features” explains:

“Canada’s DarwinAI was quietly acquired earlier this year.”

“The iPhone maker has promised a big AI announcement in 2024.”

“Apple Inc. has acquired Canadian artificial intelligence startup DarwinAI, adding technology to its arsenal ahead of a big push into generative AI in 2024.”

“The iPhone maker purchased the business earlier this year, and dozens of DarwinAI’s employees have joined Apple’s artificial intelligence division, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t been announced.”

“DarwinAI has developed AI technology for visually inspecting components during the manufacturing process and serves customers in a range of industries. But one of its core technologies is making artificial intelligence systems smaller and faster. That work that could be helpful to Apple, which is focused on running AI on devices rather than entirely in the cloud.”

Regular readers know I’ve been keenly focused on the Big AND Small AI opportunity in the current AI Tech Wave.

And in the next two or three years, SLM AI (small language model) is likely to be as big as LLM AIs that have been all the rage for a coupe of years now since OpenAI’s ChatGPT moment.

Especially for big tech companies like Apple, which uniquely has over two billion active devices across a unified Apple Silicon Tech Stack that leverages multiple Apple Operating Systems, Apps and Services in their global ecosystem. Apple’s Vision Pro as I’ve discussed, is just the latest lego piece in that strategy.

Google, Microsoft and others are also focused on Small AI, but Apple continues to have the potential Pole Position advantage with their tech stack and ecosystem.

Note that this is likely but one step in many for Apple in AI initiatives this year, especially ahead of its all important WWDC Developer Conference this summer:

“The under-the-radar acquisition comes ahead of a big AI push for Apple this year. The company is adding features to its iOS 18 software that rely on generative AI, the technology behind ChatGPT and other groundbreaking tools. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has promised that Apple will “break new ground” in AI this year, and an announcement is expected as soon as the company’s worldwide developers conference in June.”

No one acquisition large or small will make or break Apple’s longer term opportunities with LLM and SLM (small language model) AI in the coming years. But the DarwinAI acquisition underlines that the company is methodically building its AI strategy from the bottom up. It’s focusing keenly on where the AI puck is going big and small. And likely in a different way than its big tech peers. Stay tuned.

(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)