Apple reveals deal to hire team and acquire technical licenses from personalized podcast startup Huxe

Apple revealed in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement to bring in team members and technology from custom audio startup Huxe, in what is commonly referred to as a reverse acquisition deal.

As first reported in MacRumors, Apple revealed to the European Commission that it had agreed to make employment offers to “certain Huxe AI employees” and to “receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe’s ​​intellectual property rights.”

Reverse acquisitions have emerged in recent years as a way for large companies to hire key team members and license technology from startups without acquiring them directly, presumably allowing them to develop AI talent and technology without facing antitrust scrutiny. (This is confusing, as these transactions have been both called “reverse acquisitions” and simply “acquisitions.”)

In Huxe’s ​​case, the startup was founded by developers who had previously worked on AI-generated podcast features in NotebookLM (recently renamed Gemini Notebook). But Huxe announced its closure on May 21, with the team posting on Huxe’s ​​website that the company would remove its app from the Apple and Google stores, shut down the service and delete user data.

“The team is moving on to new things and we will not continue development of the product,” the company said. He also thanked his users saying, “The fact that you used it, that you told your friends about it, that you sent us your suggestions and ideas, made you feel like we built it together.” »

On June 9, shortly after Huxe’s ​​announcement, Apple notified the European Commission of its agreement.

The filing does not specify who received job offers or whether they accepted. It also doesn’t reveal anything about Apple’s plans.

Possibly related: The Huxe shutdown announcement came just a day after Spotify unveiled its own AI-powered podcast generation features, so Apple could be hoping to add similar features to its Podcasts app. Tech executives seem enamored with the idea that personalized audio can replace classic podcasts (and maybe even parent-child interaction?), although it’s not clear how many normal listeners agree.