Apple could tap Anthropic to bring AI code writing to Xcode after realizing Swift Assist is making up information
Apple will reportedly use large language models from Anthropic to finally bring AI code writing, testing and debugging to Xcode, its development tool.
According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the Cupertino firm will partner up with the Anthropic startup on a new “vibe-coding” software platform that will allegedly use Anthropic’s AI models to help developers write, edit and test software in Xcode, Apple’s tool for software development on its platforms.
“Apple will roll out the software internally and hasn’t yet decided whether to launch it publicly, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative hasn’t been announced,” reads the article.
Xcode could use Anthropic’s models for AI code writing
The report doesn’t mention when this Anthropic-enhanced Xcode might arrive. We imagine Apple will introduce it at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. If so, it will have been a full 12 months since Apple promised an AI-infused version of Xcode at last year’s WWDC.
According to the report, Apple is currently dog-fooding this version of Xcode to its employees. Gurman claims that Apple initially had reservations about AI writing code for software that its paying customers are going to use daily.
But advancements in large language models and AI coding prompted a change of heart. An AI version of Xcode reportedly ingegrates a chatbot to request pieces of code. The chatbot can also find and address errors, as well as test user interfaces.
At the WWDC24, Apple said Xcode would gain an AI coding companion called Swift Assist in 2024. Here we are in 2025, and Xcode still doesn’t have Swift Assist. Bloomberg claims that internal testing revealed that Swift Assist was hallucinating and providing incorrect information.
AI writes about 30 percent of Microsoft’s code
AI code writing is among the best use cases for AI, and Microsoft is the farthest along that path. For starters, Microsoft was the only company that realized the huge potential for OpenAI’s models before anyone else, moving to invest in the company. ChatGPT now powers much of the AI features on Copilot PCs. Moreover, CEO Satya Nadella said that as much as one-third of Microsoft’s code is now written by AI.
Microsoft also plugged ChatGPT into GitHub to let developers use OpenAI’s GPT-4 when using Copilot Chat to write AI code. And soon after, GitHub’s Copilot went multi-modal with support for other large language models, including Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet and Google’s Gemini. If Apple is serious about AI code writing in Xcode, it should borrow a page from Microsoft’s playbook and support all popular large language models in Xcode, not just Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet.
For now, Apple Intelligence relies on a single external AI model provider: OpenAI and its ChatGPT. With iOS 19, Apple could permit iPhone, iPad and Mac owners to select Google Gemini as an AI partner instead of ChatGPT. The iPhone maker is also believed to be working with Baidu and Alibaba on AI in China.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/05/02/xcode-anthropic-ai-code-writing-rumor/
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