Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a suite of generative artificial intelligence products and services during a keynote address at the company’s annual developers conference, WWDC, on Monday, including a deal with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.
The new tools mark a major shift toward AI for Apple, which has seen its global sales slow over the past year and has put fewer AI features into its consumer products than its rivals.
“Apple must understand you and be rooted in your personal context: your daily life, your relationships and your communications. This is more than artificial intelligence; it’s personal intelligence,” Cook said. “Introducing Apple Intelligence.”
Apple’s new artificial intelligence system includes a range of generative AI tools aimed at creating automated and personalized experiences on devices, and the demonstration showed that Apple’s AI is integrated throughout the operating systems of the company’s laptops, iPads and iPhones, and can pull information from apps and take actions within them.
During the keynote, the company also confirmed its long-awaited partnership with OpenAI, announcing that Apple will integrate ChatGPT technology into responses for its AI assistant, Siri.
One of Apple’s biggest updates is a new version of Siri, which executives promise will feature an experience that is “more natural, more contextually relevant, and more personal.” The new Siri will act as an AI chatbot and can receive written instructions, as well as perform actions within apps based on voice prompts. Apple promised that Siri can look through a user’s emails, texts, and photos to find specific information based on relevant context. Apple demonstrated that its AI can pick out the word “daughter” from an email, for example, and connect it to a matching phone contact. Throughout the demonstration, executives highlighted the measures Apple has taken to protect user privacy when using the company’s AI, including a set of dedicated servers that perform functions but do not store users’ personal information or responses on the device.
Apple Intelligence also has the ability to summarise notifications, emails and texts. According to the demo, a group chat planning a trip can be shortened to a single message saying who’s booked a hotel and when they’ll arrive. Meanwhile, a new image generator lets users create their own emoji reactions, and the Image Playground feature lets you create more complex images in a variety of styles.
The company also announced an OS update for its Vision Pro headset. The virtual reality device, which has only been available in the US since its February launch, will also be available in China, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Canada, France and the UK over the next two months.
Apple said it will adopt Rich Communication Services to improve messaging between iPhones and other smartphones and to expand customization options for iMessage. Phones running Google’s Android operating system have long used the messaging protocol. Other incremental updates include a redesigned Photos app, hiking maps in Apple Maps, tweaks to the Wallet app, more customization options for text messages and the ability to send text messages via satellite in areas without cell tower coverage.
While the recent boom in generative AI has prompted tech giants like Google to revamp their core services, Apple has so far refrained from introducing the technology into its flagship products. The company’s lack of generative AI tools has been a consistent source of concern over the past year among analysts and investors, who have expressed concern that Apple appears to be playing catch-up in the AI race.
As pressure mounts for Apple to offer any new AI products, the company is looking to partner and Consider how to update tools like SiriThe company’s voice assistant debuted in 2011. Cook assured shareholders last month that Apple was “investing heavily” in artificial intelligence, but Bloomberg reported The company said it is finalizing a deal with OpenAI to integrate the company’s technology into its devices.
Apple’s shares have risen in recent months as investors waited to see what the company would announce. Apple has struggled this year with weak global demand for the iPhone and reported another decline in total revenue in its earnings report last month. The company has also been hit by antitrust lawsuits in the U.S., a canceled electric car project and poor public interest in its pricey Vision Pro.
Meanwhile, other tech companies are also seeing their shares soar as they invest in artificial intelligence, with Apple rival Microsoft Corp.’s revenue and stock price growing this year, beating analysts’ expectations. AI chipmaker Nvidia Inc. last week reached a market capitalization of $3 trillion, overtaking Apple to become the world’s second-most valuable publicly traded company.
While Apple has been reluctant to announce flagship AI products, it has been quietly building up its artificial intelligence capabilities and investments for years. It has acquired several AI startups, redeployed employees to AI jobs, and Establishment of AI research lab In Zurich.
