“There’s a lot of anxiety about this and it’s considered a pretty big miss internally.” – Bloomberg source.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is gearing up to join the AI revolution that has taken the tech industry by storm. While the iPhone-maker was somewhat caught off guard by the rapid rise of AI tools like ChatGPT from OpenAI, it is now making a concerted effort to catch up. CEO Tim Cook acknowledges that Apple has been working on generative AI technology for some time, though the recent AI fever in the industry has spurred the company into action.

Apple has devised an in-house large language model called Ajax and introduced an internal chatbot known as “Apple GPT” to assess its capabilities. The company’s senior vice presidents in charge of AI and software engineering, John Giannandrea and Craig Federighi, are leading the charge, allocating a substantial budget of about $1 billion annually to this endeavor. Giannandrea is focusing on developing the core technology for a new AI system, which will enhance Siri’s capabilities. Federighi’s software engineering group is infusing AI into the next version of iOS to improve Siri and the Messages app. (Bloomberg)

Apple is also looking to integrate generative AI into development tools like Xcode to help app developers create applications more efficiently. The aim is to catch up with services like Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) GitHub Copilot. Moreover, the company is considering incorporating generative AI into various apps, including Apple Music, productivity apps, and customer service applications.

Internally, discussions are ongoing about whether to deploy generative AI as an entirely on-device experience, in the cloud, or a hybrid approach. The on-device option is faster and more privacy-friendly, but cloud-based deployment allows for more advanced operations. Apple is likely to employ a combination of both approaches.

The importance of getting generative AI right is undeniable, as it will be central to the future of computing.

Apple is determined not to be left behind and is actively working on integrating this technology into its products and services to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

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Photo by Grzegorz Walczak on Unsplash