Is Apple Breaking up with Nvidia Shocking Rumors of AI Collaboration with Google

Apple’s technical paper on Monday revealed that two artificial intelligence models from Apple Intelligence were pre-trained on Google-designed cloud chips. One is called TPU (Tensor Processing Units) from Google.
Google’s TPU tensor processing unit was launched in 2015 and publicly released in 2017. Initially created for internal workloads, the tensor processing unit now has a wider range of applications. Apple’s move signifies that top technology companies in the artificial intelligence training model field are seeking alternatives to Nvidia GPUs.
Nvidia’s expensive graphics processing units (GPUs) dominate the high-end artificial intelligence training chip market and have faced high demand in recent years, leading to shortages in procurement. Open AI, Microsoft, and Anthropic all use Nvidia’s GPUs in their models, while other tech companies including Google, Meta, Oracle, and Tesla have been purchasing Nvidia chips to build their artificial intelligence systems and products.
Reuters pointed out that although Apple did not explicitly state that it did not use any Nvidia chips, the company was not mentioned in its description. In its 47-page technical paper, Apple did not mention Google or Nvidia but did indicate that its Apple Foundation Models (AFM) and AFM servers were trained on Google’s cloud TPU cluster. This means that Apple rented servers from cloud providers to perform computations. Apple stated in the article: “The system allows us to more efficiently scale training of AFM models, including on-device AFM, AFM servers, and larger models.”
Apple’s use of Google’s chips to train two artificial intelligence models
Investors are concerned about the future applications of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone
Apple’s report shows that it will rely on Google chips, rather than Nvidia-designed graphics chips, to build the upcoming Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Apple’s reliance on Google’s cloud infrastructure is noteworthy, as Nvidia holds about 80% of the market share, producing the most popular artificial intelligence graphics processors. Chips produced by Google, Amazon, and other cloud computing companies also require collaboration with Nvidia.
In its research report, Apple did not explicitly state that it did not use Nvidia chips, but its description of artificial intelligence hardware and software did not mention Nvidia’s hardware devices.
To train artificial intelligence models, the iPhone manufacturer used two forms of Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which were organized in large chip clusters. To create AI models that can run on iPhones and other devices, Apple used 2,048 TPUv5p chips. Apple deployed 8,192 TPUv4 processors for its server AI models.
Nvidia focuses on graphics processing units (GPUs) widely used for artificial intelligence work. Google and Nvidia differ in how they sell chips and systems as independent products, with Google selling access to TPUs through the Google Cloud Platform. Customers interested in purchasing access must build software through Google’s cloud platform system to use these chips.
Apple introduced some Apple Intelligence features to its beta users. Reuters reported on the use of TPU chips in June, but Apple’s newly released research revealed the extent of its full reliance on Google hardware.
Apple engineers stated in the report that using Google’s chips can create larger and more complex models than the two models studied in the report. Apple introduced a range of new artificial intelligence features at its developer conference in June, including integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology into software.
Investors are concerned about the future applications of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone
At the 2024 Apple Developer Conference, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence, integrating personal intelligence systems in iOS 18, iPad OS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
Apple Intelligence consists of multiple generative models for users’ daily tasks and can dynamically learn to perform their current tasks. The built-in base model fine-tunes users’ actions such as writing and refining text, prioritizing and summarizing notifications, creating engaging images for conversations with family and friends, and simplifying built-in app functions to reduce the frequency of switching between apps.
Apple’s recent new iPhone models and Siri features have been underwhelming, and the newly introduced Apple Intelligence is only available in iOS 18, requiring at least an iPhone 15 Pro or M1 and higher versions of MacOS 15 and iPadOS 17 to use.
Experts note that, according to reports from Bloomberg, Apple’s delay in launching Apple Intelligence until October at the end of the year means missing out on the timing of the upcoming iPhone firmware update in September. Developers can only start testing new artificial intelligence features this week at the earliest. Investors and Apple fans are looking forward to the new Apple iPhone 16 models at the end of the year, which may disappoint if they do not have enhanced Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence features.
Apple has been slow in hardware and software development, and its relationship with Google is inseparable. Will Apple Intelligence be a shining product that replaces Siri, or just a new version of Siri? The iPhone was once an innovative product introduced by Jobs, but with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the iPhone is gradually not the only choice for smartphone users. Apple’s new artificial intelligence features will definitely affect the company’s position and stock price in the tech industry.