Apple (AAPL) shares edged 1% higher Thursday amid reports that the company bought DarwinAI, a Canadian 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:artificial intelligence (AI) startup, in what could be an important step in the iP🔥hone maker es♒tablishing its place in the AI boom.

The company acquired DarwinAI in early 2024, absorbing dozens of the AI startup's employees, Bloomberg reported.

Compared to some of its big tech peers like Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), and Meta (META), the iPhone maker has lagged in 💯publicly integrating AI tech into its products and seꦫrvices.

On the company's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:latest earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said that ꧃Apple ha𒁃s "some things that we're incredibly excited about, that we'll be talking about later this year."

He noted that there is "a lot of work going on internally," but that Apple is not announcing details yet to not "get out in front" of itself. Cook did say "there's a huge opportunity for Apple with GenAI and AI."

Bank of America analysts have given Apple a "buy" rating, saying that they expect an accelerated iPhone upgrade cycle in 2025 driven by AI-capable devices.

Apple shares finished 1% higher at $173 Thursday. The stock has fallen more than 6% since the start of 2024, though it's gained 13% in the past year.