Apple said in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement to acquire team members and technology from personalized audio startup Huxe in what is commonly known as a reverse acquisition agreement.
As first reported by MacRumors, Apple told the European Commission that it has made employment offers to “certain employees of Huxe AI” and has agreed to “receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe’s intellectual property rights.”
Reverse acquisitions have emerged in recent years as a way for large companies to hire key team members and license technology from a startup without acquiring the startup outright. This could allow AI talent and technology to be built without much antitrust scrutiny. (Confusingly, these transactions are also called “reverse takeovers” and traditional “acquisitions.”)
In the case of Huxe, the startup was founded by developers who previously worked on AI-generated podcasting capabilities at NotebookLM (recently renamed Gemini Notebook). However, Huxe announced its closure on May 21st, with the team posting on the Huxe website that it would remove its apps from the Apple and Google stores, suspend its services, and delete user data.
“The team is working on new things and product development will not continue,” the company said. He also thanked users, saying, “The fact that you used it, told your friends about it, and sent us suggestions and ideas made us feel like we built it together.”
On June 9, shortly after Huxe’s announcement, Apple notified the European Commission of the deal.
The filing does not say who received the job offer or whether it was accepted. Nothing has been revealed about Apple’s plans either.
Possibly related: Huxe’s closure announcement comes a day after Spotify announced its own AI-powered podcast generation feature, so Apple may want to add similar functionality to its podcast app. Tech executives seem obsessed with the idea that personalized audio could replace regular podcasts (perhaps even parent-child interactions?), but it’s unclear how much the average listener will agree.
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