For many users, AI features have long been part of everyday life. This is no different on the iPhone, Mac and other Apple devices – although this is probably not due to Apple Intelligence. The AI system presented by Cupertino at WWDC 2024 comes with some conveniences such as writing tools and the summary of incoming notifications, but is otherwise limited to more or less useful gimmicks such as Genmojis. Although Siri received a new user interface, it is clearly inferior to sophisticated chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini. The Information gives some reasons for Apple’s cautious AI strategy and points out that the company could be right. Is Apple’s restraint paying off?
While companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data centers, chips and training large-scale language models, Apple is taking a comparatively cautious approach. The difference is clear with Apple Intelligence: The AI tools are still declared as beta and the new Siri generation is only expected to make its debut with system version 26.4 (see here). However, according to The Information, the market mood is changing: more and more doubts are arising as to whether the high AI investments will actually pay off or lead to significant returns. Apple’s caution in this area puts the company in a comfortable position: it has more than $130 billion in liquid assets. Apple could therefore enter into acquisitions of AI startups or partnerships with them as soon as their valuation falls. According to the report, Apple seems to be speculating on exactly that.
Apple’s big advantages: iPhone and in-house ecosystem
The Information assumes that the next generation of Siri will be based on Google’s Gemini architecture. Although Cupertino is still working on its own LLM, some executives have come to an interesting conclusion: large language models will become mass-produced goods in the coming years, which is why it makes little sense to invest a lot of money in LLMs. The report also points to the iPhone as a decisive advantage for Apple: the company is able to integrate AI features into the in-house ecosystem via software updates. Other providers would first have to develop appropriate hardware and face the associated challenges in areas such as production and sales.
