Apple has officially joined the Ultra Accelerator Link Consortium, a group dedicated to developing next-generation technology to interconnect chips in AI data centers. The consortium is working on a standard called UALink, which aims to connect AI accelerator chips increasingly found in server farms. As of Tuesday, Apple has become a member of the consortium’s board, joining other notable members such as Alibaba and semiconductor company Synopsys.
In a statement, Becky Loop, Apple’s Director of Platform Architecture, expressed optimism about UALink’s potential. She noted that UALink “shows great promise” in addressing connectivity challenges and creating new opportunities for expanding AI capabilities and demands. Loop added, “Apple has a long history of pioneering and collaborating on innovations that drive our industry forward, and we’re excited to join the UALink board of directors.”
The UALink standard is designed to connect a variety of chips, including GPUs and custom-designed solutions, to enhance the training, fine-tuning, and operation of AI models. The standard is based on open technologies, such as AMD’s Infinity Fabric, and the first UALink products are expected to be launched within the next couple of years.
The consortium’s membership includes major tech companies like Intel, AMD, Google, AWS, Microsoft, and Meta. However, Nvidia, the largest producer of AI accelerators, is notably absent from the consortium. This is likely because Nvidia has its own proprietary interconnect technology, NVLink, for linking chips within a data center cluster.
Apple’s involvement in UALink coincides with the company’s increased investments in infrastructure to support Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI product features. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is reportedly developing a new server chip to enhance the efficiency of its AI data centers.
Some of Apple Intelligence’s features have received mixed reviews. Recently, Apple announced plans to update one of these features, AI-summarized news alerts, after users reported inaccuracies, including a false headline claiming that tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.
Apple’s participation in the Ultra Accelerator Link Consortium underscores its commitment to advancing AI technology and improving the performance and connectivity of AI data centers.
