Apple is reportedly building an enterprise AI server with its own M8 Ultra chips, targeting AI developers, businesses, and governments. The server would ship in two versions with either two or four M8 Ultra chips, according to The Information, citing people familiar with the project.
The server is built for AI inference, running already-trained models. Apple is considering Nvidia's NVLink Fusion technology to connect the chips, enabling fast communication inside data centers. NVLink was originally built for Nvidia's own chips but has since been opened to third-party hardware.
"Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, already backed the effort about a year ago while still heading hardware, seeing an opening in the booming AI compute market," said Matthias Bastian. The project may have gained momentum recently.
AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are already buying Mac Minis and Mac Studios in bulk for AI workloads, and Apple's Mac revenue jumped nearly 29 percent last quarter to $10.4 billion. The announcement follows Apple's growing focus on AI compute.
Apple did not say whether the server would use Nvidia's NVLink technology, and the project could still be scrapped or proceed without it. Launch wouldn't happen before 2029, and the project could still be scrapped or proceed without Nvidia's tech.
Source: thedecoder
