Apple has been working on generative artificial intelligence for a long time: The company launched its voice assistant Siri in 2011. But it was caught empty-handed when the craze over AI caught fire — its flames fed by consumers, investors, and Big Tech companies scrambling to claim responsibility for the world’s latest and greatest AI technologies.
Following the wildly successful launch of OpenAI’s AI chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022, tech giants Google, Microsoft, and Meta raced to announce new chatbots, custom AI chips, and AI software features. Nvidia’s stock has skyrocketed as demand for its AI hardware continues to soar above and beyond expectations; startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic are impressing the world with their chatbots. But for a year and a half, Apple was dead silent.
CEO Tim Cook’s answers to pressing questions from the public, wondering when the world’s second-most valuable company (at the time) would seize on the latest technological phenomenon, were vague.
But, finally, Apple on Monday unveiled its simply-named AI initiative Apple Intelligence, which Cook swears isn’t a pun on “artificial intelligence.” It’s a set of AI-powered features for Safari, Notes, Calculator, and (most importantly) Siri for the iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
But Apple still is still a long ways away from catching up to rivals. Experts have mixed opinions about whether Apple will succeed, and when that success would finally pay off.
Can Apple beat rivals like Google and Microsoft? Maybe
When it comes to winning the AI race, Apple is trying to beat Microsoft in the AI personal computer market and Google in the AI smartphone market.
While some analysts believe Apple’s future partnerships with AI innovators could lead the company to surpass long-time rival Google, others think Google is still ahead.
Morgan Stanley analysts said Tuesday that they think Google’s generative AI offerings for Android make it a stronger product than Apple’s iOS 18 update, its primary product that stands to benefit from AI. If Apple’s AI updates to the iPhone fall behind Google’s, Apple would lose its edge.
And Microsoft is already ahead when it comes to the personal computer race. Sure, Apple’s got new AI features and ChatGPT 4-o for its next Mac operating system to be launched in 2025. But Microsoft already debuted its AI Copilot Plus PCs in late May, which also support ChatGPT 4-o.
Apple won’t benefit financially for a while — but it’s been behind before
While Microsoft’s and Google’s AI tools are already boosting sales at the two companies, Apple won’t benefit from AI-related sales for “years,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman wrote in a newsletter Tuesday. That’s because Apple Intelligence launches this fall — and in beta mode, at that — and many AI features won’t be available until next year, Gurman noted.
Apple may be behind its peers, and it will probably take a while to catch up. But the company managed to dominate multiple markets after being slow to release products before. Apple wasn’t the first company to put mp3s on small devices (i.e. with its iPods) or the first to make smartphones or smartwatches. But it ultimately became the most powerful company in the markets for those products, so much so that it came under fire from both consumers and federal regulators.
Bank of America analysts anticipate that Apple will eventually make AI-powered smartphones — so-called “intelliphones” — that will lead the future of telecommunications.