Apple teaming with OpenAI on chatbot to be announced at WWDC
Apple is reportedly teaming up with OpenAI to add the startup’s chatbot technology to its products. The companies are preparing a major announcement of their partnership at WWDC on June 10th.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple was caught flat-footed in the generative AI race, and the company will need to change its strategy if it wants to catch up… Apple Inc. has faced its share of challenges during Tim Cook’s tenure, but none may be bigger than the one it’s contending with now: the need to come from behind and win in artificial intelligence.
Though the company will still rely on the on-device approach — with its own large language models powering AI features on phones and computers — it’s also planning to deliver services via the cloud. As I’ve reported, Apple is putting high-end Mac chips into its data centers to handle these online features.
The move shows that Apple recognizes the need to evolve. As part of the changes, the company will improve Siri’s voice capabilities, giving it a more conversational feel, and add features that help users with their day-to-day lives… The big missing item here is a chatbot. Apple’s generative AI technology isn’t advanced enough for the company to release its own equivalent of ChatGPT or Gemini…
But the company knows consumers will demand such a feature, and so it’s teaming up with OpenAI to add the startup’s technology to iOS 18, the next version of the iPhone’s software. The companies are preparing a major announcement of their partnership at WWDC, with Sam Altman-led OpenAI now racing to ensure it has the capacity to support the influx of users later this year.
Still, that agreement will only go so far. To be as successful as possible in AI, Apple is going to have to eventually move away from a partnership approach, build a chatbot of its own and integrate it deeply into the company’s products. For now, it believes the combination of its homegrown AI features (both on devices and in the cloud) and the OpenAI deal will be enough to get the job done.
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MacDailyNews Take: Just as we explained was happening, and would happen, back on the first of April:
Apple was caught flat-footed, due to a lack of vision on the part of leadership. They were, uh, focused elsewhere. Apple’s traditional data center network is not fit for generative AI. It will take years and billions of dollars to catch up just to where GenAI leaders (OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet, etc.) are today.
So, the only solution is to partner with a [Google, OpenAI, Baidu, etc.] for the real GenAI stuff while pretending (marketing) really hard that some on-device AI Apple has whipped up in a few months is “insanely great Apple innovation” that’s at the heart of Apple’s 2024’s AI announcements when it’s really just an adjunct… Watch Apple make a big show of its on-device AI at WWDC and run many ads touting it from June onwards.
Apple hopes to buy time for the data center buildouts and investments that will be required for them to someday own their own AI technology and not have to license it from the likes of [Google, OpenAI, Baidu, etc.].
This is what happens after a decade plus with a caretaker CEO at the helm after he hits the last page of his iteration playbook, yet attempts to stay in the game for too long.
See also:
• Work on Apple Vision Pro began under Steve Jobs – August 23, 2023
• Contrary to popular belief, Steve Jobs knew about Apple Watch – February 13, 2023
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