Apple (AAPL  ) is quietly entering the AI coding assistant space, and it's doing it alongside Anthropic, one of the most heavily funded artificial intelligence startups in the world.

Backed by Amazon (AMZN  ) with a $4 billion investment, including an initial $1.25 billion with an option for an additional $2.75 billion, and Google (GOOG  ) (GOOGL  ), with a $500 million upfront investment and a commitment of up to $2 billion total, as reported by Reuters, Anthropic is now collaborating with Apple to launch a new AI-enhanced coding tool built into Xcode, according to Bloomberg.

The tool will rely on Anthropic's Claude Sonnet, a cutting-edge language model capable of writing, editing, and executing code with advanced reasoning and troubleshooting abilities, Bloomberg reports. Internally dubbed a "vibe-coding" interface, the assistant is designed to let Apple engineers build full software components using natural language, which is a step forward in the tech giant's growing effort to embed generative AI into its core development tools.

According to Bloomberg, this marks one of Apple's first direct partnerships with a major AI player amid growing competition from Microsoft (MSFT  ), which has already integrated OpenAI's GPT technology into GitHub Copilot, a popular AI pair-programming assistant.

Claude Sonnet Brings Amazon and Google's Firepower Into Apple's Walled Garden

With funding exceeding $7 billion, Built In San Francisco reports, and strategic backing from two giants, Claude is quickly positioning itself as a rival to OpenAI's GPT-4, according to Tom's Guide. The Claude family of models is known for high performance in reasoning, code generation, and low hallucination rates, making it an ideal choice for professional-level AI coding applications, Anthropic's website states.

Apple's decision to integrate Claude Sonnet into Xcode represents a notable departure from its typical vertically integrated approach. According to Bloomberg, this tool will initially be used internally, but discussions are ongoing about a broader rollout to external developers. Developers will be able to request bug fixes, test interface elements, or even write entire blocks of Swift code using natural language prompts, Bloomberg reports.

While Apple previously teased a native Swift Assist tool in 2024 according to MacRumors, it was never released. Reports now suggest that Claude Sonnet may quietly replace Swift Assist behind the scenes as Apple ramps up internal AI infrastructure and evaluates the tool's long-term integration potential, Bloomberg writes.

A Growing Battlefield in AI-Driven Development

With Amazon leveraging Claude to power enterprise-level AWS offerings, Google collaborating on AI safety research, and Apple's plans to integrate the tool into Xcode, the Claude ecosystem is expanding rapidly across industries, now including one of the most powerful hardware companies in the world.

According to Bloomberg, Apple remains cautious about a public rollout but sees strategic value in internal deployment to sharpen its AI expertise. Whether or not the Claude-powered Xcode assistant becomes public, this partnership may reflect Apple's acknowledgment that external AI platforms will likely play a growing role in the future of its software tools.