Apple acquires Kuzu database company, adds to growing list of 2025 acquisitions

Apple has quietly acquired Kuzu, an embedded graph database company, adding to its growing list of acquisitions in 2025. The deal, which occurred in October, was recently revealed through European Union regulatory filings required under the Digital Markets Act.

Kuzu describes itself as an "embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and ease of use." This acquisition is particularly interesting given Apple's existing cross-platform relational database system, FileMaker, which is operated by its subsidiary Claris. The move suggests Apple may be looking to enhance its database capabilities beyond traditional relational models.

According to the EU's Digital Markets Act filings, Apple made several qualifying acquisitions in 2025:

October 10, 2025 - Kuzu: Develops lightweight embedded database technologies August 19, 2025 - Styra: Develops and licenses authorization software for cloud-native environments May 28, 2025 - IC Mask Design: Provides physical layout design services for analog integrated circuits and related training courses February 11, 2025 - Pixelmator: Image editing and design software for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro January 24, 2025 - TrueMeeting: Development of digital avatar technology January 24, 2025 - WhyLabs: Develops and operates tools to monitor and analyze machine learning models and data pipelines January 3, 2025 - Pointable: Develops enterprise-grade natural language retrieval systems to create custom large language model applications

Kuzu has scrubbed most of its online presence, which is common practice when companies are acquired by Apple. The acquisition price remains undisclosed, but it was significant enough to trigger EU reporting requirements while likely being a relatively small deal compared to Apple's blockbuster $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Q.ai earlier this month.

This pattern of acquisitions demonstrates Apple's continued investment in diverse technologies ranging from AI and machine learning to database infrastructure and creative software tools. The company's strategy appears focused on acquiring specialized technology companies that can enhance its ecosystem across multiple platforms and use cases.

The EU's acquisition tracking webpage provides valuable transparency into Apple's M&A activity, listing all qualifying acquisitions on a rolling basis with new entries added not earlier than four months after receipt of the information. This suggests Apple likely made additional acquisitions beyond those currently listed on the public registry.

For developers and users, these acquisitions could signal future enhancements to Apple's software and services. Kuzu's graph database technology, for instance, could potentially improve data relationships and querying capabilities across Apple's platforms, while the other acquisitions span areas from cloud security to AI model monitoring and creative tools.

The acquisition of Kuzu, while not as headline-grabbing as the Q.ai deal, represents Apple's ongoing commitment to strengthening its technical infrastructure and expanding its capabilities in specialized areas that could benefit its entire product ecosystem.