Apple turns to Anthropic to speed up coding & fix buggy tools

Apple is bringing in Anthropic's Claude AI to help its engineers code faster, marking a quiet but telling shift in its approach to artificial intelligence.

Apple has long resisted leaning on outside help for core technologies, preferring to build its tools in-house. But that wall is starting to crack. The company is now partnering with Anthropic to integrate its Claude Sonnet model into an upgraded version of Xcode, Apple's software development platform.

New tool could reshape developer workflows

Internally, the project is being rolled out to help Apple engineers write, edit, and test code more efficiently. The collaboration signals a strategic shift, reports Bloomberg on Friday.

Apple is no longer treating AI as a self-contained project siloed within its walls. Instead, it's beginning to view outside partnerships as a necessary part of keeping up with rapid advancements in generative AI.

Apple previously developed its own AI coding assistant, Swift Assist, but internal complaints about hallucinations and slow performance stalled its release. Swift Assist already works alongside third-party tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT, both of which have been integrated into Xcode to offer additional AI-driven support for developers.

However, Swift Assist still hasn't been fully released to the public after its announcement at WWDC 2024.

Craig Federighi presenting Apple Intelligence features with large screen showing various software capabilities like Siri, Photos cleanup, messaging summaries, and focus mode icons.

Apple is laying the groundwork for a more open and flexible AI strategy

Claude's integration adds natural language capabilities that let engineers request code snippets, debug interfaces, or streamline test cycles. While the tool is still limited to internal use, a wider release to developers is on the table if the internal rollout goes well.

A strategic shift, not just a feature drop

The shift also aligns with broader internal changes. Apple has recently restructured its AI leadership, moving Siri development under software chief Craig Federighi and narrowing the role of AI chief John Giannandrea to focus more on foundational research.

CEO Tim Cook addressed the new direction on Apple's latest earnings call, telling analysts the company is excited about its AI roadmap. He emphasized that Apple will continue to build some of its own models but said partnerships will play a role.

That's a different tone from just a couple of years ago, when Apple seemed caught off guard by the AI boom. It launched Apple Intelligence with on-device features like custom emoji and writing tools, but those efforts were often seen as lagging behind what rivals like OpenAI and Google had already delivered.

Now, with Anthropic in the mix and WWDC approaching on June 9, Apple is laying the groundwork for a more open and flexible AI strategy. The company that once insisted on going it alone is beginning to see the value in collaboration.

18 Comments

Massiveattack87 1 Year · 110 comments

About 3 weeks ago

So... Apple can´t solve it alone. Apple is way too late in the game.
It shows that Apple is really behind in AI.
RIP Apple.

0 Likes · 4 Dislikes

chelgrian 16 Years · 50 comments

About 3 weeks ago

Massiveattack87 said:

So... Apple can´t solve it alone. Apple is way too late in the game.
It shows that Apple is really behind in AI.
RIP Apple.

*yawn* Apple has always had numerous external suppliers however like other strong brands before them they are very good at presenting their product and their brand. Nokia did a very similar thing with a very similar supply chain management strategy in the early 2000s

As to being late in the game, what game? Approximately the only people making money out of generative models at the moment are Nvidia and power companies.

The current state of the market is a bubble and cannot last.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes

godofbiscuitssf 3 Years · 171 comments

About 3 weeks ago

chelgrian said:

Massiveattack87 said:

So... Apple can´t solve it alone. Apple is way too late in the game.
It shows that Apple is really behind in AI.
RIP Apple.

*yawn* Apple has always had numerous external suppliers however like other strong brands before them they are very good at presenting their product and their brand. Nokia did a very similar thing with a very similar supply chain management strategy in the early 2000s

As to being late in the game, what game? Approximately the only people making money out of generative models at the moment are Nvidia and power companies.

The current state of the market is a bubble and cannot last.

Yeah, "yawn". Apple's going to be stealing other people's work with everyone else and you meet it with a "yawn".

0 Likes · 3 Dislikes

blastdoor 16 Years · 3776 comments

About 3 weeks ago

Apple co-developed PPC along with IBM and Motorola. They used it for a little over 10 years. PPC fell behind Intel to a point that Apple had to make the somewhat embarrassing admission that they had no choice but to switch to Intel.

Apple not only survived that switch, but thrived. And eventually developed their own CPU that now completely beats Intel.

I predict that a similar story will unfold with AI. Apple had Siri and various other AI/ML technologies, but it fell behind. So now they must somewhat embarrassingly rely on external suppliers. But in doing so, they will make their products better and will thrive. Eventually they will develop a superior AI stack internally. Maybe in 5 years this time instead of 15.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes

shervin 12 Years · 16 comments

About 2 weeks ago

blastdoor said:

Apple co-developed PPC along with IBM and Motorola. They used it for a little over 10 years. PPC fell behind Intel to a point that Apple had to make the somewhat embarrassing admission that they had no choice but to switch to Intel.

Apple not only survived that switch, but thrived. And eventually developed their own CPU that now completely beats Intel.
I predict that a similar story will unfold with AI. Apple had Siri and various other AI/ML technologies, but it fell behind. So now they must somewhat embarrassingly rely on external suppliers. But in doing so, they will make their products better and will thrive. Eventually they will develop a superior AI stack internally. Maybe in 5 years this time instead of 15.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

People don’t realize AI is a long game and right now, even if Apple
os behind, they will skip certain processes that are either not sustainable, fads or certain avenues which are dead ends. They will benefit from the research of the big AI companies, just as others and Apple competitors often benefit from Apple’s research.

The Wall Street mafia, tech pundits (🙄) and others kept vomiting that Apple will miss the 5G train and is behind. Now, Apple has it and MWave, which is STILL largely limited to certain areas, and they’re making their own 5G chips!