Apple is exploring potential acquisitions of AI chip companies and has approached some semiconductor startups about a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

The outreach would build on Apple’s internal effort.

The company said its Private Cloud Compute runs on custom server hardware built on Apple silicon to support large language model inference.

It would also follow Apple’s earlier moves. Apple’s 2008 purchase of P.A. Semi for US$278 million helped lay the foundation for the company’s in-house chip design strategy.

More broadly, AI chips have been a competitive mergers and acquisitions area as technology and semiconductor companies seek talent, intellectual property, and tighter control of AI infrastructure.

Any deal for advanced AI chip assets could also face tighter US export-control scrutiny, especially if a target has exposure to China or other restricted markets.

🔗 Source: Yicai

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