Apple has been working on the ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) project for several years, but it has no clear timeframe.
According to The Wall Street Journal Apple has been working closely with TSMC to develop and manufacture chips, but it is not known whether these efforts have yielded any specific results.
It is noted that Apple’s server chip will focus on «AI inference» rather than learning — an area in which while Nvidia dominates. Inference in artificial intelligence technologies is the process used by trained models to draw conclusions based on completely new data.
Apple is currently somewhat behind in the AI race, while competitors such as Microsoft invest billions in technology. In February, the company’s CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence and will make a big announcement on the technology later in 2024 (probably at WWDC in June).
«We believe in the transformative power and promise of artificial intelligence, and we believe we have the advantages that will set us apart in this new era,» Cook said during Apple’s latest quarterly earnings report.
Apple is expected to introduce a large number of features based on generative artificial intelligence at WWDC 2024 with iOS 18 and other software updates. The company also develops its own language models that can work offline.
Interestingly, previous reports have shown that Apple is leading negotiations with both OpenAI and Google regarding the use of their AI technologies in the iPhone. It is unclear whether the company still plans to enter into agreements with third parties or use its own servers instead.