cross-posted from !apple@lemdro.id

  • Apple has been the leading buyer of AI startups since 2017, acquiring 21 companies, nearly double the number purchased by Microsoft and Meta.
  • While other Big Tech companies like Google and Microsoft are vocal about their AI investments, Apple remains relatively quiet, choosing to announce things as they come to market.
  • The startups Apple has acquired focus on areas like self-driving technology, voice design, music generation, and image recognition.
  • This acquisition strategy contrasts with companies like Microsoft and Google, who are more cautious with acquisitions due to antitrust scrutiny and instead opt for partnerships with startups.
  • Apple’s AI investments have contributed to new iPhone features such as personal voice and real-time voicemail transcription.
  • A neural processor is an f32 bit capable matrix multiplication accelerator. That’s basically a GPU to compensate for their laptops’ and desktops’ lack of compute. On mobile most competitors don’t really bother because there’s not a huge need for this coprocessor.