According to Tim Cook, Apple is investing “heavily” in AI.
In an interview with Reuters Apple’s CEO said its $22.6 billion in research and development spending is driven by investment in AI technologies, including generative AI. That was in response to Thursday’s earnings call, when Cook answered questions on Apple’s consumer approach to AI.
“We’re going to continue to invest and innovate and responsibly advance our products with these technologies to improve people’s lives,” Cook said, explaining the rise in spending. That’s a rise of $3 billion this yr. “Obviously, we’re investing a lot, and that’s reflected in the R&D spending that you’re seeing.”
Unlike big tech firms like Google, Meta, and Microsoft that jumped on the AI bandwagon early and are launching generative AI tools, Apple has been notably cautious. On call, Cook said Apple’s approach is to “announce things as they come to market.”
At WWDC in June, the term “AI” was not mentioned once. But that is to not say Apple is sleeping on AI. The company has reportedly developed an internal chatbot, colloquially called “AppleGPT” that may also be used for AppleCare. The big query on the minds of Apple devotees is whether or not Siri will get a creative AI upgrade, which could be an obvious use case.
While the buzzword is generative AI, Cook emphasized how Apple has integrated other types of AI into its products through the years, comparable to crash detection in iPhones and Personal Voice in iOS 17. Apple users might even see more ChatGPT-esque features in the near future.
Credit : mashable.com
