Write an email, summarize a document, search for information, shape images or an avatar in a few seconds, ask a voice assistant to note an appointment… Does that mean nothing to you? For more than eighteen months, we have known that generative AI is capable of carrying out many everyday tasks, sometimes creative, sometimes just time-consuming. ChatGPT (OpenAI) led the way. Millions of users are now addicted to it. Microsoft, its partner, via Copilot, or even Google, as well as an infinite number of start-ups, have rushed into the breach at full speed.
Unsurprisingly, on Monday evening, from its headquarters in Cupertino, Apple also dipped its famous operating systems – iOS for the iPhone, and MacOS for its computers – in the magic AI sauce, through a modestly called “Apple Intelligence”.
“Finally,” whispered many observers. Its main rival in smartphones, Samsung, had launched before it, and did not fail to make it known, on (ex-Twitter). Start-ups such as Humane or Rabbit have also tried to promote new types of AI-boosted devices, perhaps sensing an opportunity. Apple’s silence, in the face of a technology considered among the most transformative in decades, was punished, particularly on the stock market. Microsoft has taken away its crown as the most valuable company in the world. The chip specialist, Nvidia, last week also stole its second place. Monday’s announcements from Apple were not marked by a stock market rebound, on the contrary (-2%).
Dependence on OpenAI?
Apple had to form a partnership with OpenAI, the most advanced company in AI, for certain features, particularly related to Siri, its famous voice assistant. How much is this deal worth, and how will Apple offset this investment with new revenue? Device sales have declined for several years. And for now, Tim Cook, its CEO, has assured that there will be no need for a subscription to access the multiple powers of AI.
Apple’s credibility now rests, in part, on someone else’s technology. Leaving last, in generative AI, takes away from the Apple brand this visionary posture which has characterized it since its very first personal computers. A handful of articles in the American press revealed that this delay had had an impact on the talents present within the company, who had left for more exciting challenges. If Apple does not refrain from trying something other than ChatGPT in the future, it could actually become very dependent on it, if it does not itself follow the frenetic pace imposed by the start-up.
However, there are a few good points to be found after the others. AI, still riddled with errors, is handled with caution: Google, entangled in multiple bad buzz, can attest to this. Humane, and its “AI pin”, did not find its audience. The promised “new smartphone” may not exist. With its hundreds of millions of followers, Apple therefore feels capable of playing “clock master”. Its technology will initially only be deployed on the most recent iPhones and MacBooks, and in English only. The Cupertino company has its own standards in the industry, today very high in terms of data security, and quite simply quality of experience, as evidenced by some “wow” demonstrations offered Monday. Basically, if Apple comes last in AI, it is above all because it can afford it.