苹果在一份监管文件中透露，已达成协议，将吸纳个性化音频初创公司Huxe的团队成员和技术，这种做法通常被称为反向收购雇佣（reverse acqui-hire）交易。
Apple revealed in a regulatory filing that it has reached an agreement to bring on team members and technology from personalized audio startup Huxe, in what’s commonly known as a reverse acqui-hire deal.
正如MacRumors首次报道的那样，苹果向欧盟委员会披露，已同意向“Huxe AI的某些员工”发出雇佣邀请，并“获得Huxe知识产权的非独占许可证”。近年来，反向收购雇佣成为大公司吸纳初创公司关键团队成员并获取其技术许可的一种方式，而无需完全收购该初创公司——这 presumably 使他们能够在不引起过多反垄断审查的情况下积累AI人才和技术。
As first reported in MacRumors, Apple disclosed to the European Commission that it has agreed to make employment offers to “certain employees of Huxe AI,” and to “receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe’s intellectual property rights.”Reverse acqui-hires emerged in recent years as a way for larger companies to hire key team members and license technology from startups without acquiring the startups outright — presumably allowing them to build up AI talent and tech without drawing as much antitrust scrutiny. (Confusingly, these deals have both been referred to as “reverse acqui-hires” and as plain old “acqui-hires.”)
（令人困惑的是，这些交易既被称为“反向收购雇佣”，也被称为传统的“收购雇佣”。）在Huxe的案例中，该初创公司由曾参与NotebookLM（最近更名为Gemini Notebook）AI生成播客功能的开发者创立。但Huxe于5月21日宣布将关闭公司，团队在Huxe网站上发布消息称，公司将从苹果和谷歌应用商店下架其应用，停止服务，并删除用户数据。
In the case of Huxe, the startup was founded by developers who’d previously worked on the AI-generated podcast features in NotebookLM (recently renamed Gemini Notebook). But Huxe announced on May 21 that it was shutting down, with the team posting on the Huxe website that the company would be removing its app from the Apple and Google stores, halting service, and deleting user data.
“团队将转向新的事业，我们不会继续开发该产品，”公司表示。它还感谢了用户，称：“你们使用它、向朋友推荐它、给我们发送建议和想法，让我们感觉就像是一起打造了它。”6月9日，就在Huxe宣布关闭不久后，苹果向欧盟委员会通报了此次交易。
“The team is moving on to new things, and we won’t be continuing development of the product,” the company said. It also thanked its users, saying, “The fact that you used it, told friends about it, sent us your suggestions and your ideas, made it feel like we built it together.”On June 9, shortly after Huxe’s announcement, Apple notified the European Commission of its deal.
该文件未说明谁收到了雇佣邀请或是否接受。也没有披露苹果的任何计划。
The filing does not say who received employment offers or if they accepted. Nor does it disclose anything about Apple’s plans.
可能相关的是：Huxe 的关闭公告恰好在 Spotify 推出其自身的 AI 驱动播客生成功能仅一天后发布，因此苹果可能希望为其 Podcasts 应用添加类似功能。科技高管似乎对个性化音频可以取代常规播客（甚至可能取代亲子互动？）这一想法深感着迷，但目前尚不清楚有多少普通听众持这种观点。
Possibly related: Huxe’s shutdown announcement came just a day after Spotify unveiled AI-powered podcast generation features of its own, so Apple could be hoping to add similar functionality to its Podcasts app. Tech executives seem enamored with the idea that personalized audio can replace regular podcasts (and maybe even parent-child interaction?), though it’s not clear how many normal listeners agree.