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Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, announced a series of generative artificial intelligence products and services on Monday during his keynote speech at the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC, including a deal with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The new tools mark a big shift towards AI for An applewhich has seen global sales slow over the past year and has integrated fewer AI features into its consumer-facing products than rivals.
“It should understand you and be based on your personal context such as your routine, your relationships, your communications and more. This is beyond artificial intelligence. It’s personal intelligence,” Cook said. “Introducing Apple Intelligence.”
Apple’s new artificial intelligence system includes a set of generative AI tools aimed at creating automated, personalized experiences on its devices. The demonstration showed that Apple’s AI will be integrated into the operating systems of its laptops, iPads and iPhones, and will be able to pull information from and take actions in apps.
The company also confirmed its long-awaited partnership with OpenAI during the keynote, announcing that Apple will integrate ChatGPT technology into responses from Siri, its AI assistant.
One of Apple’s biggest updates was the new version of Siri, which executives promised would include a “more natural, more contextually appropriate and more personal” experience. The new Siri can function as an AI chatbot and receive written instructions, and also has the ability to take actions within apps based on voice prompts. Apple has promised that Siri will be able to sift through your emails, texts and photos to find specific information based on relevant context. Apple has demonstrated that its AI can, for example, pick out the word “daughter” from an email and match it with the corresponding phone contact. During the demo, executives emphasized measures Apple has taken to protect user privacy when using the company’s AI, such as a dedicated set of servers to power the features but not store users’ personal information or responses on the device.
Apple Intelligence also has the ability to summarize notifications, emails and texts. A group chat that involves figuring out travel plans can be shortened to a single message that conveys who has booked a hotel and when to arrive, according to the demo. Meanwhile, a new image generator lets users create unique emoji reactions, while its Image Playground feature can create more complex visuals in several different styles.
The company also announced an updated operating system for its Vision Pro headset. The virtual reality device, which has only been available in the US since its launch in February, will become 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 the iPhone and other smartphones, as well as expand customization options for iMessage. Phones running Google’s Android operating system have long used the messaging protocol. More incremental updates included a redesigned Photos app, hiking maps in Apple Maps, Wallet app settings, customization options for sending text messages, and sending text messages via satellite in places without cell tower connections.
While the boom in generative AI in recent years has led tech giants like Google to revamp their core services, Apple has so far held back from incorporating the technology into its flagship products. The company’s lack of generative AI tools has been a constant source of consternation among analysts and investors over the past year, as they have expressed concern that Apple appears to be playing catch-up in the AI race.
As pressure mounts on Apple to deliver some form of new AI offering, the company has begun discussing partnerships and looking at ways to update tools like Siriits voice assistant, which debuted in 2011. After Cook promised shareholders last month that Apple was making “significant investments” in artificial intelligence, Bloomberg reported that the company is finalizing a deal with OpenAI to integrate the startup’s technology into its devices.
Apple shares have rallied in recent months as investors wait to see what the company will reveal. This year, Apple is struggling with weakening global demand for its iPhone, reporting another overall decline in revenue during an earnings call last month. Ann antitrust suit in USA canceled electric vehicle project and the lack of public fanfare for the expensive Vision Pro further haunt the company.
Meanwhile, other technology firms saw their stock market value rise as they emphasized investments in artificial intelligence, with Apple rival Microsoft beating analysts’ expectations this year as its revenue and stock price rose. AI chip maker Nvidia reached a valuation of $3 trillion on the stock market last weekovertaking Apple to become the second most valuable public company in the world.
Although Apple is reluctant to debut a landmark AI product, it has been quietly building its AI capabilities and investments for years. It has acquired several AI startups, reassigned employees to work on AI, and is creating an AI research lab in Zurich.
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