Apple has teamed with Anthropic on a “vibe coding” AI platform that will write, edit and test software for developers. The system is essentially an update on Xcode, Apple’s free integrated development environment (IDE) that will be powered by Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet model, according to reports. Apple’s plan is said to be introducing the software internally then deciding later whether to launch it publicly. Apple developed the proprietary Xcode suite of tools and began using it in 2003 to code, debug, test and vet submissions to the App Store for software that runs on all of its operating systems, from iOS to visionOS.

“In the early days of generative artificial intelligence, Apple had been resistant to using AI for the creation of software that was bound for consumers, but with recent advancements in large language models — a foundation of generative AI — Apple is changing its tune,” writes Bloomberg, which emphasizes Apple’s interest in “using AI to improve its internal workflow, aiming to speed up and modernize product development.”

Bloomberg compares Apple’s approach to that of companies Codium and Anysphere, which both leverage Claude as the basis for their AI coding assistants. CNBC recently reported that OpenAI was in talks to buy Anysphere’s product, Cursor, before setting its sights on Codium’s Windsurf with an offer in the $3 billion range, which would make it “by far” OpenAI’s largest acquisition to date.

In March, Bloomberg wrote that Anysphere is in talks to raise funding that would establish its valuation at $10 billion.

All of which means if Apple does release a public product it will face stiff competition but also find itself in a lucrative new market. Firebase Studio offers a popular cloud-based product, contrasting Windsurf and Cursor’s desktop IDEs.

In addition to those companies, Microsoft offers the GitHub Copilot coding assistant (developed with OpenAI). Amazon, which has an equity stake in Anthropic, uses Claude for the chatbot component of its AWS AI code assistant Q Developer.

Last summer, Apple announced an Xcode AI coding assistant called Swift Assist it said would be on the available later in the year, but it has yet to be released. The Anthropic partnership, says Bloomberg, “is an acknowledgment that Apple could use some outside help, though the two systems could ultimately work together.”

Computerworld calls the Apple-Anthropic chatter “the latest act of the Apple-does-AI drama and says if the speculation is true it expects the company to use WWDC, June 9-13 to share details.