Apple Jumps into the AI Arms Race with OpenAI Deal

The tech giant has mostly stayed on the sidelines as the industry goes wild for AI. Not anymore.

AI technology is changing the game

Apple officially launched itself into the artificial intelligence arms race, announcing a deal with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to use the company’s technology in its products and showing off a slew of its own new AI features.

The announcements, made at the tech giant’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday in Cupertino, Calif., are aimed at helping the tech giant keep up with competitors such as Google and Microsoft, which have boasted in recent months about why AI makes their phones, laptops, and software better than Apple’s.

“The AI features are game changers that would be indispensable to its products going forward.” - Tim Cook, Apple Chief Executive

In addition to Apple’s own home-grown AI tech, the company’s phones, computers, and iPads will also have ChatGPT built-in later this year, a huge validation of the importance of the high-flying startup’s tech. The deal will put ChatGPT in front of millions of Apple users who might not know about or want to use it directly on their own.

Apple’s jump into AI underscores the extent to which the tech industry has bet its future on the technology. The iPhone maker has generally positioned itself over the years as charting its own way, focusing on a closed ecosystem centered on its expensive phones and computers, touting that model as better for users’ privacy. But the embrace of generative AI shows that the technology trend is too powerful for even Apple to ignore.

Apple’s AI features are changing the game

Apple showed off AI features it collectively dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” including a text-generator for emails and SMS messages, an image-generating tool that would work in various Apple apps, and a more-capable Siri voice assistant. The company pitched its AI tools as better than those of its competitors because they are integrated into Apple’s software. For example, a user could ask their iPhone to “play the podcast my mom texted me” and the system would understand automatically which podcast to play because it has access to the various Apple apps on the person’s phone.

AI integration is the key to Apple’s success

The tech giant’s move into AI is a significant shift in its strategy, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming months. One thing is for sure, Apple is now a major player in the AI arms race, and it’s not going to let its competitors get ahead.

The future of AI is bright