Apple in talks with startup that shrinks AI models to run on an iPhone
Apple is in early discussions with startup PrismML to utilize technology that compresses large AI models to run locally on iPhones. This move aims to enhance Siri's capabilities while maintaining user privacy and reducing reliance on cloud computing.
Why it matters
On-device AI processing is a critical competitive frontier for smartphone manufacturers seeking to balance high-performance features with data privacy and latency constraints.
Apple is in talks with a small Silicon Valley company that says it can shrink powerful artificial intelligence models enough to run directly on an iPhone, the startup's CEO told CNBC.
PrismML, a Khosla Ventures-backed spinout from the California Institute of Technology, publicly released compressed versions of Alibaba's open-source Qwen model on Tuesday. The company said it reduced the model from roughly 54 GB to less than 4 GB, allowing all 27 billion of its parameters to run on an iPhone 15 or newer.
PrismML CEO Babak Hassibi told CNBC that Apple and other companies have been evaluating the startup's models and measuring their speed, energy efficiency and performance on devices.
"They're really evaluating our technology right now," Hassibi said of Apple.
He characterized the discussions as very early and said it remains unclear where they will lead, but that "things are progressing nicely."
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