I’m pretty sure we all saw this coming. Why would Apple, out of all companies, not participate in, as Gizmodo reporter Kyle Barr puts it, the AI-ification of everything? During an earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he thinks there is a “huge opportunity for Apple with generative AI and AI,” hinting that the Cupertino tech giant will have something to show for it later this year.
He didn’t get into specifics on the call, but any announcements would likely happen at WWDC in June, usually when Apple unveils its newest products. However, it was at WWDC23 that it announced the Vision Pro, which just launched today for $3,500, along with new Macbook Pro laptops.
Mark Gurman from Bloomberg predicts that the upcoming iOS 18 is “seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates — if not the biggest — in the company’s history.” Maybe the AI-related announcement is the reason behind the software being so big. Gurman also reported that Apple had been testing AI tools to roll out on its devices, like a ChatGPT-style bot internally referred to as Apple GPT, in addition to a revamped Siri that uses generative AI.
As always, Cook has been very vague about what to expect. He commented, “As we look ahead, we will continue to invest in these and other technologies that will shape the future.”
Cook added, “That includes artificial intelligence, where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort, and we’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year.”
CNBC says Apple also implied that they intend to compete against Microsoft, Google, Amazon, OpenAI, and other big names that are currently leading the AI space.