Apple is adding artificial intelligence audio talent without buying a company outright.
TechCrunch reported that Apple disclosed to the European Commission that it has agreed to make employment offers to certain employees of Huxe AI and to receive a non-exclusive licence to the startup's intellectual property. Deals of this kind are often called reverse acqui-hires: a large company hires key people and licences technology without acquiring the startup itself, a structure that can draw less antitrust attention.
Huxe was founded by developers who previously worked on the AI-generated podcast features in Google's NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook. The startup announced in May that it was shutting down, removing its app from stores and deleting user data, and Apple notified the Commission of its deal in June, according to the reporting.
The filing does not say which employees received offers, whether they accepted, or what Apple plans to build. TechCrunch noted the timing sits alongside rival moves into AI-generated podcasts, leaving open whether similar features could eventually reach Apple's own Podcasts app.
