Apple is working on “Apple GPT” artificial intelligence projects that could rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to BloombergIt’s Mark Gurman. AI work has become a priority for Apple over the past few months as chatbot services and AI features in apps have proliferated.
The Cupertino company has developed an “Ajax” framework for large language models such as ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing, and Google’s Bard, and has developed its own in-house chatbot that some engineers refer to as “Apple GPT,” a game of ChatGPT. . Apple does not yet have a “clear strategy” for creating a product for consumers, Gurman says.
Given the popularity of AI chatbots, Apple is concerned that it is falling behind in new AI-based technologies that will change the way people interact with smartphones. Apple employees must get special access to access the chatbot application Apple is working on, and their output cannot be used to develop new product features for customers. It is being used for product prototyping and can answer questions based on the data Apple used to train it.
The Ajax platform is based on Google’s Jax machine learning framework and runs on Google Cloud. Apple reportedly considered signing a contract with OpenAI and tested OpenAI’s technology for its corporate teams, but ultimately didn’t.
Apple has several teams working on artificial intelligence and trying to solve problems like privacy. Even with its personal assistant Siri, Apple has always been more cautious than its competitors, aiming to put privacy before functionality. Apple has been criticized for the shortcomings of Siri compared to competing products from Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Amazon, and others.
During Apple’s May earnings call, Tim Cook said there are “a number of issues that need to be resolved” with AI, and that it’s important to be “deliberate and thoughtful” in your development approach. Cook also said that Apple sees AI as “huge” and plans to “continue to weave it into products in a very thoughtful way.”
It’s not yet known when or if Apple might release some kind of consumer-facing chatbot, but the company continually improves machine learning-based features in its products with each new iteration of software. In iOS 17, for example, predictive text functionality has improved, and Apple has introduced new features around visual search and photo ID.
Apple might be planning to make a “significant” AI announcement in 2024, but it doesn’t have any concrete plans yet. Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea and head of software engineering Craig Federighi are at the helm of Apple’s AI efforts, but as with many of Apple’s emerging technologies, reportedly , there are disagreements about product development that the company will have to overcome.