Apple (AAPL-1.21%) has traditionally not been a big player in artificial intelligence model training or server infrastructure. But that might change pretty soon.
“Apple is officially in the large server cluster Gen AI game… and Super Micro Computer (SMCI-8.51%) & Dell (DELL-2.83%) are the key server partners,” Loop Capital Markets analyst Ananda Baruah said in an analyst note on Monday.
Large server clusters are big groups of high-powered servers used to train and run complex AI models, like those used in generative AI.
The tech giant is reportedly placing roughly $1 billion worth of orders of Nvidia’s (NVDA-6.07%) GB300 NVL72 server platform, including the company’s next-generation Blackwell Ultra chips, built by Super Micro and Dell. With each server costing around $3.7 million to $4 million, Baruah estimates that Apple is buying approximately 250 servers. Apple didn’t immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment.
Baruah expects Apple to use these servers to run or train generative AI large language models. The move could have stemmed from the intense backlash Apple received in response to its decision to delay a much-anticipated generative AI upgrade of its voice assistant Siri.
Apple began working on integrating advanced AI technology into its products as part of its Apple Intelligence initiative, which the company introduced last June at its annual developer conference, WWDC.
The tech giant first teased a so-called “LLM Siri” based on advanced large language models last year, in an effort to scale its generative AI capabilities and catch up to industry rivals like OpenAI and Amazon.
Although an arrival date was never publicly set, LLM Siri was widely anticipated to come in an iOS 18.4 upgrade expected next month. Now, the AI-infused Siri will likely be unveiled next year. Apple pulled its previous ads featuring the capability.
The decision to delay LLM Siri’s rollout faced intense investor and consumer backlash, and the company was hit with a federal lawsuit last week. The suit demands unspecified financial damages on behalf of those who purchased new products in anticipation of the generative AI upgrade.
“Apple’s advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves to cultivate a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone’s release,” the lawsuit said.
Loop Capital analysts’ initial work suggests that the LLM Siri debacle could partly be due to Apple’s preference to use traditional AI and machine learning, rather than more advanced generative AI. But Apple’s alleged purchase of these servers could signal a shift in preference towards the latter, Baruah said.
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