Apple is using artificial intelligence processors from Amazon Web Services to build and power some Apple Intelligence and other services.
While Apple has long used AWS for services like iCloud and Apple One, this relationship now includes AI, with Apple tapping into AWS’s cutting-edge processors to enhance its own offerings.Apple is also testing advanced AWS chips to pretrain some of its AI models as it continues its rapid pivot toward becoming the world’s most widely deployed AI platform.
Not a new relationship
Apple has used AWS servers for years, in part to drive its iCloud and Apple One services and to scale additional capacity at times of peak demand. “One of the unique elements of Apple’s business is the scale at which we operate, and the speed with which we innovate. AWS has been able to keep the pace,” Dupin said.
One of the standout features of this partnership is Apple’s use of AWS’s advanced chips. Dupin shared that Apple is using AWS’s Graviton and Inferentia processors for machine learning tasks, such as search and streaming. The results have been impressive, with a 40% improvement in efficiency compared to older systems. Apple is also exploring AWS’s Trainium 2 chips for pretraining its AI models, expecting a 50% jump in efficiency. These kinds of gains are essential for keeping Apple’s AI projects fast, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly.
AWS Powers Apple Intelligence
On the AWS connection to Apple Intelligence, he explained: “To develop Apple Intelligence, we needed to further scale our infrastructure for training.” As a result, Apple turned to AWS because the service could provide access to the most performant accelerators in quantity.
Dupin revealed that key areas where Apple uses Amazon’s services include fine-tuning AI models, optimizing trained models to fit on small devices, and “building and finalizing our Apple Intelligence adapters, ready to deploy on Apple devices and servers”.This collaboration allows Apple to roll out powerful new features seamlessly, whether they’re running on an iPhone, Mac, or iPad.
Apple Intelligence is a work in progress and the company is already developing additional services and feature improvements.As Apple expand the capabilities and feature of Apple Intelligence, the company will continue to depend on the scalable, efficient, high-performance accelerator technologies AWS delivers.
The Future of AI and Apple’s Ambitions
It’s clear that Apple’s increasing reliance on AI is part of a long-term plan. While CEO Tim Cook hasn’t shared specific details, he’s made it clear that the company is deeply committed to projects that are “years in the making.” Meanwhile, AWS is positioning itself as a strong alternative to Nvidia, offering AI processors that are both powerful and cost-effective.
But Apple being Apple, there’s always the question of whether it will eventually take this expertise in-house. With its track record of designing innovative hardware like Apple Silicon, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple developing its own server processors down the road to gain even more control over its AI systems.