Apple revealed in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement to bring on team members and technology from personalized audio startup Huxe, in what is commonly known as a reverse acqui-hire deal.
As first reported by MacRumors, 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 license to Huxe’s intellectual property rights."
Reverse acqui-hires emerged in recent years as a way for larger companies to hire key team members and license technology from startups without acquiring the startups outright—presumably allowing them to build up AI talent and tech without drawing as much antitrust scrutiny. Confusingly, these deals have both been referred to as "reverse acqui-hires" and as plain old "acqui-hires."
The Huxe startup was founded by developers who had previously worked on AI-generated podcast features in NotebookLM (recently renamed Gemini Notebook). However, Huxe announced on May 21 that it was shutting down, with the team posting on the Huxe website that the company would remove its app from the Apple and Google stores, halt service, and delete user data.
"The team is moving on to new things, and we won’t be continuing development of the product," the company stated. They also thanked their users, noting, "The fact that you used it, told friends about it, sent us your suggestions and your ideas, made it feel like we built it together."
On June 9, shortly after Huxe’s announcement, Apple notified the European Commission of its deal.
The filing does not specify who received employment offers or if they accepted. It also does not disclose anything regarding Apple’s future plans.
Possibly related to Huxe’s shutdown announcement, Spotify unveiled AI-powered podcast generation features of its own just a day prior, suggesting Apple could be hoping to add similar functionality to its Podcasts app. Tech executives seem enamored with the idea that personalized audio can replace regular podcasts, though it is unclear how many normal listeners agree.
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