Apple Acqui-Hires Huxe, Audio App Built by NotebookLM Trio

Apple has acqui-hired Huxe, an audio AI startup founded by three former Google NotebookLM developers, according to 9to5Mac, which spotted the arrangement in a European Union Digital Markets Act transparency filing. The filing states Apple will have "the right to make employment offers to and hire certain employees of Huxe AI, Inc." and "receive a non-exclusive license to Huxe's intellectual property rights."

Huxe was built by former NotebookLM project lead Raiza Martin, together with designer Jason Spielman and engineer Stephen Hughes. The three shipped an app that generated personalized audio: daily email and calendar briefings, podcast-style conversations on specific topics, and continuously updated feeds for news and sports.

They launched Huxe on an invite-only basis in June 2025 and opened it to everyone that September alongside a $4.6 million funding round. The service ended on May 28.

9to5Mac calls this "the fourth AI-related deal disclosed this year," following a talent and IP arrangement with virtual avatar startup Animato in May. It lands amid a steady run of Apple coverage on our end: 87 stories tracked over the past 90 days on the Apple AI tracker.