MacPaw partners with Liquid AI for on-device AI, expands SetApp plans
Ukrainian app developer MacPaw is working with Liquid AI on locally hosted AI models, including an on-device inference system called Elix, and plans to offer the technology to developers building for its SetApp store.
MacPaw, a Ukraine-based app developer, has announced a partnership with Liquid AI to integrate locally hosted AI models into its products. The collaboration initially targets MacPaw's AI assistant Eney, unveiled last year, and the company intends to eventually make the underlying tech stack available to third-party developers.
Under the partnership, Liquid AI is building an on-device inference system, named Elix, and a local memory system. MacPaw's CEO Oleksandr Kosovan said locally hosted AI models would allow users to run assistants and agentic workflows offline. Liquid AI's co-founder and CEO Ramin Hasani explained that the architecture is chosen to match the hardware so AI can run efficiently directly on the device, offering benefits such as privacy and security.
The collaboration comes as MacPaw prepares its subscription-based app store SetApp, which has over 150,000 paying users, for a wider range of AI applications. The company is testing credit-based plans, where users can perform a certain number of AI operations depending on their credits and the complexity of the task.
Once the local processing architecture is settled, MacPaw plans to give developers access to the same on-device inference capabilities. Kosovan said the platform would also offer access to other cloud models from companies like Google, serving as a one-stop shop for developers.
Apple already provides local models to developers, but Hasani noted that Liquid AI's models focus on performance for different capabilities. He added that Liquid AI is building a customization stack around its models, allowing them to use user input and improve over time.
