Apple has acquired Huxe through an acqui-hire deal, bringing over key employees from the AI audio startup founded by former Google NotebookLM developers. The European Union's Digital Markets Act transparency database revealed the June 9 deal, which grants Apple the right to hire Huxe employees and obtain a non-exclusive license to its intellectual property. Huxe, founded by Raiza Martin, Jason Spielman, and Stephen Hughes in December 2024, launched an invite-only app in June 2025 that generated personalized audio content from users' emails and calendars.
The service shut down in May 2026 after raising $4.6 million in funding. This marks Apple's fourth AI-related deal disclosed this year, following a pattern of acquiring talent and technology for voice-based interfaces. Acqui-hires have drawn regulatory scrutiny, with the FTC recently examining such arrangements and considering changes to premerger reporting rules.
Source: 9to5Mac · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing