Meta and Apple announced on Thursday a collaboration in artificial intelligence that will allow developers to run Meta's latest open model on high-end Apple desktop machines. CNBC reported that the move marks a notable reconfiguration of alliances in Silicon Valley after years of rivalry, driven by the AI boom.
The model and how it will run
According to the report, the collaboration centers on a model named "MusesSparkrOpenen," described in the source as Meta's model. The article states the model has 816 billion parameters and uses a mixture-of-experts architecture. Meta says the model can be executed locally, without cloud infrastructure, provided users run it across two to four linked "MaStudioio" machines.
Local execution is promoted as offering privacy advantages and potential cost savings compared with cloud-based deployments. The model has been optimized for Apple Silicon chips, the announcement adds.
Hardware requirements and costs
The source lists that a single "MaStudioio" configured with an M5 Ultra chip and 256 GB of memory costs at least $10,799; a 512 GB variant is expected to arrive in October. The model will require multiple such machines to operate, implying a substantial hardware investment for organizations or developers who want to run it locally.
Why the announcement matters
The deal is notable partly because Apple and Meta had avoided public collaboration in prior years. The relationship hit a low point after Apple's 2021 privacy changes, which limited advertising targeting; the two companies' leaders have also exchanged public criticisms, with references in the article to past comments by Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg.
The partnership could present a competitive challenge to OpenAI and Anthropic, while also showcasing the performance potential of Apple’s AI-capable silicon in a market where Nvidia currently has large influence.
Ongoing critiques of Apple's AI efforts
The report also notes continuing criticism of Apple's AI strategy: a recently released Siri iteration was judged by some observers to lag behind the chatbots and AI agents developed by leading research labs. Nevertheless, the collaboration signals Apple's intent to leverage its chip advancements and partner ecosystem in the AI space.
Additional context
The article mentions a leadership change at Apple, stating that John Ternus replaced Tim Cook last month. Market watchers in London are reportedly monitoring the announcement for indications of how rivals and the developer community will respond.
Note on production
An AI assistant contributed to the preparation of this article; the final content was edited and verified by the publication's journalist.
Tags: artificial intelligence, Meta, Apple, chip, Mac Studio, M5 Ultra, local AI execution, OpenAI, Anthropic
