[Digital Today reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] Apple has signed a deal to secure staff and technology from personalised audio startup Huxe, TechCrunch reported on Friday.
The report said Apple disclosed the details in documents it submitted to the European Commission (EC).
Apple will offer jobs to some Huxe employees as part of the deal and receive a non-exclusive licence to Huxe intellectual property. MacRumors first reported the news.
The agreement is a so-called reverse acqui-hire, in which a large company brings in key staff and secures a technology licence without buying the entire startup. Large companies appear to use this approach to secure AI talent and technology while reducing the burden of antitrust regulation.
Huxe was founded by developers who built the AI podcast feature for Gemini Notebook (Notebook LM). Huxe announced on May 21 that it would end its service and also withdrew from Apple and Google app marketplaces.
Apple did not disclose future plans related to the Huxe deal in documents it filed with the SEC.
TechCrunch noted that Spotify unveiled an AI podcast generation feature a day before Huxe announced it was shutting down. Apple may also seek to add a similar feature to its Podcasts app, TechCrunch said.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr