U.S. technology giant Apple (AAPL) has acquired a Canadian artificial intelligence (A.I.) start-up company as it looks to expand into the red-hot fields of generative A.I. and machine learning.
Apple has purchased DarwinAI, a small A.I. research firm founded at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, for an undisclosed amount of money.
DarwinAI has developed A.I. technology for inspecting components during the manufacturing process and serves customers across a wide range of industries.
One of DarwinAI’s main technologies is making A.I. systems smaller and quicker. That could benefit Apple as it integrates A.I. into its consumer electronic devices such as the iPhone.
DarwinAI previously raised $15 million U.S. from venture capitalists and has worked with companies such as defence contractor Lockheed Martin (LMT) and chipmaker Intel (INTC).
The purchase of DarwinAI comes as Apple chief executive officer (CEO) Tim Cook has promised that the company will “break new ground” in A.I. this year, with a major announcement expected at its annual developers conference in June.
The stock of Apple has declined 7% so far in 2024 and currently trades at $173 U.S. per share.
