Apple Buys Canadian Database Company Kuzu
Fast, flexible graph databases could be created with Kuzu. The company was swallowed by Apple without much announcement.
Apple logo on the back of a device.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Will Apple soon introduce a database alongside its word processor Pages, spreadsheet application Numbers, and presentation program Keynote? The iPhone giant has since acquired the necessary technology, according to data from the European Union. The Canadian company Kuzu, a manufacturer of a flexible graph-based database system, has reportedly belonged to the Cupertino-based company since autumn. At the same time, Kuzu's GitHub repo was also removed; it has an archive status of October 2025. Kuzu's database technology was available as an embedded variant and was said to be optimized for "speed, scalability, and user-friendliness." Graph databases work differently than the more common relational databases.
Apple Already Has FileMaker
According to AppleInsider, which has access to the EU documents, the technology could form the basis for a new database app – or be intended for internal use. In fact, Apple has had a corresponding product for decades with FileMaker Pro from its subsidiary Claris, but it is still not marketed as Apple technology. Claris has belonged to Apple since 1987 and continues to work quietly – version 22 was released last year. The app is even cross-platform, meaning it also runs on Windows, and the server version even runs on Linux (Ubuntu).
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On Reddit, a post about the status of Kuzu, which operated as Inc., was deleted; it also stated that the company had been acquired. The assumption there is an acqui-hire, meaning an acquisition for the purpose of recruiting employees – although Apple is likely to be explicitly interested in the technology.
Also Prompt AI and Q.AI
Around the same time, Apple apparently also acquired the company Prompt AI, apparently mainly for its employees. The money was apparently not enough for the previous investors to make a profit. It is unclear how the situation was with Kuzu.
Apple recently announced another particularly large acquisition: the Israeli company Q.AI was bought for a good two billion US dollars. It has developed technology that allows AI to recognize speech that is spoken completely silently.
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