Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said.
Photo: AFP
While this initiative has been in progress for several years, the exact timeline or potential release date remains uncertain, the report said.
The Cupertino, California-based company has been playing catch-up with its peers in generative AI, the technology underpinning chatbots and other popular new tools. The company is preparing to unveil a new strategy for AI at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month.
“We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI and we’re making significant investments,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Reuters last week.
Apple’s server chip would primarily focus on running AI models, a process known as inference, rather than training AI models.
The company has been working closely with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) to design and initiate production of the chips, although it is uncertain if the collaboration has delivered definitive results, the Journal reported.
Apple’s approach is expected to focus on new proactive features that can assist users in their daily lives. The company also has held talks with potential partners like Alphabet Inc’s Google and OpenAI to supply generative AI services.
If Apple goes ahead with its own server processor, it would follow several of the largest tech companies in doing so. Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft Corp and Meta Platforms Inc all operate data centers that run on in-house designed semiconductors to some extent. Such efforts have eroded the traditional dominance of Intel Corp’s components.
Meanwhile, Apple planned to hold a virtual event yesterday in which it is expected to show new iPad models, some of which could come with a new chip aimed at speeding up AI tasks carried out on the devices.
Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said upgraded iPads could be a way for Apple to get new chips onto the market ahead of its developer conference next month, where it might reveal more about how it plans to address AI.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS