Apple is finally ready to challenge Microsoft and Google with its Generative AI announcements, set to come ‘later this year’

In typical Apple fashion, Cook didn’t share too many details, but his remarks prove that Cupertino is very much a part of the AI arms race and aims, in every possible way, to compete with Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI.

For months, Apple has shied away from openly discussing its plans to bring generative artificial intelligence features to the iPhone, Mac, and its popular services. This is despite generative AI becoming the hottest buzzword in tech, with companies like Microsoft pouring billions of dollars into AI. Two years ago, Gen AI was barely discussed in mainstream conversation, but the popularity of ChatGPT changed everything. Since then, every major company, big or small, has released products designed to take advantage of generative artificial intelligence. Google, Adobe, Nvidia, Qualcomm, among others, are some of the companies that have marketed their products built on AI as the foundation.

It’s not that Apple hasn’t added AI features to its core software offerings; it’s that they have not done so at the same level as others. Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival in smartphones, marketed its latest Galaxy S24 as AI phones in an effort to stay ahead of Cupertino. Its high-end Galaxy S24 lineup comes with Galaxy AI, a set of features that bring translating calls in real-time and manipulate objects in photos.

Experts and insiders predict that Apple will showcase advanced generative artificial intelligence features with iOS 18, a new version of its mobile operating system that powers the iPhone. Apple typically announces new software in June at its annual developer’s conference, WWDC. It is possible that Apple may not use the phrase ‘Generative AI’ during the presentation, similar to how it intentionally did not use the words ‘Augmented Reality’ and ‘Virtual Reality’ to promote its $3500 Vision Pro headset, which went on sale last week in the US.

“Let me just say that I think there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with Gen AI and AI, without getting into more details and getting out in front of myself,” Cook said.

Alongside Google and Microsoft, Apple is one of the few companies that have the resources to invest in Generative AI. But, in all likelihood, Apple will do things differently, opting for a more measured approach rather than the rushed strategies employed by many of its peers to grab attention. The Information revealed last year that Apple is investing millions of dollars per day into artificial intelligence. It is said that Apple’s most advanced Large Language Model (LLM), known internally as Ajax GPT, has been trained on ‘more than 200 billion parameters.’ Later last year, Apple’s machine learning research team quietly released a framework called MLX to build foundation models designed to run on its chips and perhaps bring generative AI apps to MacBooks.