Though Apple has stayed mostly out of the AI arms race, this may be about to change.
Based on data from PitchBook given with Business Insider and referenced by the Financial Times, the dominant player in Silicon Valley has bought 21 AI startups since 2017, more than any of its competitors.
Additionally, it has started looking for AI talent in an effort to catch up to competitors like Microsoft and Google.
The FT study speculated that Apple is primarily focused on getting AI to work on its iPhones, as opposed to services like ChatGPT, which need on large data centers and a connection to the cloud. This speculation was based on research of academic publications, industry data, and insights from tech sector specialists.
The tech giant is allegedly developing a more intelligent, AI-powered Siri speech assistant as well, which Morgan Stanley analysts anticipate could be unveiled with iOS 18 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Additionally, Apple has changed some of its hardware to assist generative AI. In October, the company unveiled stronger M3 chips for its Macbook range and a new S9 chip for the Apple Watch that enables Siri to access data even when it’s not online.
According to Apple’s job postings, the company is looking for many positions aimed at enhancing Siri’s artificial intelligence skills and “enabling a better conversational experience” with the voice assistant.
Additionally, they imply that Apple is stepping up its recruitment of AI talents, posting job openings with an AI concentration in a number of fields, including as health and on-device AI, and developing “foundation models,” or baseline AI models similar to GPT-4.
According to a recent Morgan Stanley research note, almost half of the company’s AI job listings are now centered around “Deep Learning,” a subset of machine learning that is essential to developing substantial language models like ChatGPT.
Apple is said to have created a large language model known as “Ajax” last year, which employees used to establish an internal chatbot service. This model is reportedly their own take on the GPT-4.
In the first half of last year, the business invested $22.61 billion in research and development, an increase that CEO Tim Cook attributed in part to Apple’s emphasis on generative AI.
The incredible popularity of ChatGPT in late 2022 took Apple by surprise, as one insider at the company told, calling the absence of response “a pretty big miss internally.”
Even though competitors like Microsoft and Google have introduced several new AI products, the corporation has adopted a cautious approach to the new technology.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, called the AI boom “huge” for the tech sector during a May 2023 earnings call, but he also issued a warning, saying the company would be “deliberate and thoughtful” in how it integrated the technology into its products.
