Apple hires team from Huxe, the AI podcast startup built by ex-NotebookLM developers, in EU filing

Apple has agreed to hire staff from Huxe, a personalised AI audio startup, and take a non-exclusive licence to its technology, according to a filing with the European Commission first reported by MacRumors and covered by TechCrunch on Saturday.

The filing says Apple will make employment offers to "certain employees of Huxe AI" and will "receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe's intellectual property rights". No price or other terms were disclosed, and the filing does not say who was offered a job or whether anyone accepted.

What Huxe was

Huxe turned your news, email and interests into short personalised audio, much like a private podcast. It was founded by developers who had worked on the AI-generated podcast feature in Google's NotebookLM (since renamed Gemini Notebook), the tool that turns documents into a two-voice audio summary.

On 21 May 2026 Huxe said it was shutting down: it would pull its app from the Apple and Google stores, stop the service and delete user data. "The team is moving on to new things, and we won't be continuing development of the product," it said. Apple notified the European Commission on 9 June.

Why this kind of deal

TechCrunch calls it a "reverse acqui-hire": instead of buying the company, a big tech firm hires the people and licenses the technology. It has become common in AI because it is quicker and draws less scrutiny than a full takeover, though the EU still asks to be told.

Apple has not said what it will build. TechCrunch notes that Spotify unveiled AI podcast generation the day before Huxe's shutdown announcement, and that Apple could want something similar for its Podcasts app. That is speculation; Apple has not commented.

What it means for users in Pakistan

Nothing changes today: Huxe's app is already gone, and Apple Podcasts works as before. If AI-made audio summaries do arrive on iPhones, they would most likely come through a software update. Thinking of a new iPhone? See current iPhone prices in Pakistan and work out the PTA charge with the PTA mobile tax calculator.