Since Apple’s latest earnings call, talk of a potential Perplexity acquisition has quieted down (the fact that Perplexity was once again allegedly caught red-handed sidestepping content restrictions didn’t help).
Meanwhile, with the ever-increasing number of engineers from its Foundation Models team jumping ship, Apple’s need for fresh talent is getting more urgent by the day. But if Perplexity is a no-go, who else could Apple buy?
I used to agree with Jason Snell’s frequent argument on the Upgrade podcast, that the most Apple thing to do would be to acquire a small, unknown AI lab. A tiny team of brilliant engineers building exciting tech that could help jumpstart Apple’s AI push from the inside.
But I think we’re past that point now. Besides, Apple has already tried that. Although unconfirmed, reports suggest Apple made 30+ AI acquisitions in 2023, more than Google, Meta, Microsoft, or Amazon, or even some of them combined.
And even if those numbers are off, and Apple has bought fewer AI companies than its rivals in recent years, the fact remains: never mind market expectations. Apple has been falling short of its own AI ambitions and promises.
Just as one example: while OpenAI continuously improves the Canvas tool on ChatGPT, and while Anthropic improves the Artifacts tool on Claude, Apple’s Writing Tools (announced a year ago) have barely moved.
Then, there’s the AI Siri revamp, whose long list of well-documented stumbles speaks for itself.
At this point, I do believe that Apple needs more than raw talent, especially given the fact that it can’t even seem to keep the raw talent it already has. What Apple needs is an infusion of product-ready technology, made by a company that has already proven that it can actually ship good products, preferably based on its own foundation model.
The problem is: that’s a very short list.
Who could be a good fit?
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