Apple Partnering With Anthropic to Develop Claude-Powered AI Coding Platform
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Apple is working with Anthropic to create an updated version of Xcode that will support AI code writing, editing, and testing, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Anthropic is an American artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded in 2021. The company says it researches and develops AI to “study their safety properties at the technological frontier,” using the information culled from the research to deploy safe models for the public.
Anthropic is perhaps best known for its “Claude” large language model and other large language models (LLMs). Claude is a competitor to Google’s Gemini and Open AI’s ChatGPT. The large language model is well-known for its coding capabilities, offering advantages over other LLMs in programming tasks.
Last year, Apple announced its own internally developed AI-powered coding tool for Xcode called Swift Assist. While the new version was initially scheduled for a 2024 rollout, the company never released it to developers. Internal engineers had complained that the Swift Assist system could “hallucinate” (make up information), which, in many cases, slowed down app development.
By partnering with Anthropic, Apple is admitting it could use some outside help, hopefully making the two systems ultimately work together.
As for Anthropic, working with Apple is a significant win, especially if the tool it’s building gets rolled out to third-party developers. Anthropic previously partnered with Amazon to help power the retail giant’s new Alexa+ assistant. However, when Apple searched for partners for its Apple Intelligence features last year, it only seriously considered Google and OpenAI, eventually striking a deal with the latter for ChatGPT.
The new Xcode version integrates the Claude Sonnet model, and it is being slowly rolled out to employees for internal use. Apple is moving to join the ranks of companies that have begun adopting AI coding tools to speed up the development of their products before it’s left behind.
While Bloomberg reports Apple has been hesitant to use AI tools to create software, the company has become more comfortable with the idea as investments in LLMs have made the Cupertino firm more comfortable with expanding the use of the AI tools.
The version of Xcode that Apple uses internally has a built-in chat interface that allows developers to request code or assistance with coding. The version can also be used to test user interfaces, assisting engineers in locating and addressing bugs in the code.
Apple has not yet said if it plans to release the software to third-party developers. However, it seems likely — if the company’s internal testing proves successful.
Apple has established relationships with several AI companies, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has already been integrated into iOS 18. The Cupertino company is also working with Google to add support for Gemini. Apple is also partnering with Baidu and Alibaba to create an AI engine for China, which doesn’t allow foreign LLMs inside its borders.
Apple’s Apple Intelligence platform currently includes several features, including custom emojis, writing tools, summarized notifications, and more, using models developed by the company’s internal programming staff. Apple has been working feverishly in catch-up mode for the last few years after it was caught off-guard when the current generative AI frenzy kicked off more than two years ago.
