Apple acquires data engineering startup Ascend.io

Apple struck a deal to acquire Ascend.io, which calls itself the first agentic data engineering platform, according to a filing in the EU's List of Acquisitions under the Digital Markets Act. The filing names Ascension Labs, Inc., the legal entity behind Ascend.io, as the target.

The deal is structured as an acquihire. Apple will hold a non-exclusive license to Ascend.io's intellectual property, be assigned certain patents, and be able to offer jobs to and hire selected employees of the startup. 9to5Mac called the arrangement a typical acquihire, and BigGo Finance said the structure points to a buyer whose main interest is the engineering team.

Ascend.io, founded in 2015, built software that uses AI agents to handle work across the data engineering lifecycle, from ingestion through transformation and orchestration. The Mac Observer reported that the Palo Alto-based company was founded by Sean Knapp and that its platform has an AI assistant named Otto for writing code, troubleshooting errors and maintaining data infrastructure. The platform also connects to Snowflake, BigQuery and Databricks and automates recurring engineering tasks, according to The Mac Observer. Apple has previously expanded AI capabilities through smaller acquisitions, including invrs.io and talent from Huxe, The Mac Observer reported.

On its website, Ascend.io says it is winding down operations and posted a note about its decade-long mission. The company wrote: "For the past ten years we pursued a singular mission: Make Data Engineering Delightful".

The EU filing did not disclose financial terms. The Mac Observer reported that Apple and Ascend.io have not publicly confirmed the acquisition and that Apple's plans for the startup's technology and employees remain unknown.

Apple also struck a deal earlier this month with an AI startup that allows musicians to rework recorded music, according to 9to5Mac and BigGo Finance.