Apple plans to use M2 Ultra chips for artificial intelligence in the cloud

Apple is planning to get into productive AI by offloading complex queries to the M2 Ultra chip running in its data center before moving to the more advanced M4 chip.

Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to place the M2 Ultra on a cloud server to run more complex AI queries, while simple tasks will be performed on the device. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Apple wants to build a dedicated chip to take to data centers to ensure security and privacy. But the company now believes that its existing processors already have sufficient security and privacy components.

The chips will be used in Apple’s data centers and eventually in servers operated by third parties. Apple operates its own servers across the US and is working on the construction of a new center in Waukee, Iowa, first announced in 2017.

While Apple has not jumped into generative AI as quickly as rivals like Google, Meta and Microsoft, the company has published research on the technology. In December, Apple’s machine learning research team announced MLX, a machine learning framework that can efficiently run AI models on Apple’s silicon. The company has also released other work on AI models that show how AI could appear on its devices and how existing products like Siri could be upgraded.

Apple placed great emphasis on AI performance when announcing the new M4 chip, noting that the new neural engine is a “ridiculously powerful chip for AI.”