(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is developing a server chip designed especially for artificial intelligence and is working with Broadcom Inc. on the chip’s networking technology, the Information reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the project.
The new chip is internally code-named Baltra and expected to be ready for mass production by 2026, according to the report.
The move highlights Apple’s longstanding position to avoid buying chips from Nvidia Corp., which dominates the market for AI processors. It also marks a milestone for the company’s chips team, which began designing chips for the iPhone and moving on to Mac processors that set new standards for performance and energy efficiency, according to the report.
Apple has been been playing catch up in the race for artificial intelligence. In October, the company began slowly introducing its first generative AI features, collectively known as Apple Intelligence, for the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. Though Apple previewed a broader set of AI capabilities in June, the initial features represent only a sliver of its plans for the service.
Apple will deliver some of its upcoming artificial intelligence features this year via data centers equipped with its own in-house processors, part of a sweeping effort to infuse its devices with AI capabilities.
Bloomberg has previously reported that Apple is placing high-end chips — similar to ones it designed for the Mac — in cloud-computing servers designed to process the most advanced AI tasks for Apple devices.
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