Apple is finally getting into the generative artificial intelligence game.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced Apple’s long-awaited AI reboot today at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California. What the company calls “Apple Intelligence” includes a handful of features that will shape the iOS experience in ways big and small. Apple also gave Siri, its currently limited voice assistant, a major generative AI overhaul.
Apple also announced that it will incorporate external AI models into its software, starting with OpenAI’s ChatGPT later this year, making it clear that the experience will be voluntary only and will not require a subscription to ChatGPT. Siri will determine if a query could benefit from ChatGPT access and then request approval to share information with the model. The Apple company said it would also leverage other AI models in the future.
Until now, Apple has been conspicuous by its absence from the headlines about generative AI. Competitors like Google and Microsoft have been quick to adopt the technology since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022. Apple has apparently been developing a comprehensive strategy that includes running AI on devices and in the cloud.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said the company’s new artificial intelligence strategy will focus on privacy and security. Federighi introduced what the company calls Private Cloud Compute, a technology that decides whether an AI calculation can run on a device or needs to be sent to a remote server. He said remote calculations would be kept secure in a protected part of the cloud. “Your data is never stored or made accessible to Apple,” he said.
Apple showed off Apple Intelligence in numerous applications. The technology will rewrite messages in Mail, generate new emojis on demand, and summarize content in Safari. An update to Siri’s AI will make the assistant better able to handle complex spoken commands and look up information even if a command is ambiguous.
Apple will also offer smaller generative AI algorithms that run on devices. It says that these algorithms will be more agile and better protect user data. The company will face a balancing act of emphasizing privacy and security while pivoting toward greater use of generative AI.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates or stay up to date with our WWDC live blog here.