We have heard for some time that Apple is researching generative AI, and it is reported that the company plans to invest $1 billion a year in this technology to compete with Google and Microsoft.

The report comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who has a solid track record for accurately reporting what is happening within Apple. In the October 22 issue of his newsletter Power On, Garman writes that as Cupertino-based Apple seeks to give Bing a unique windfall with ChatGPT, Google Bard, and a string of ChatGPT substitutes, it is spending about $1 billion a year on generative AI research and development The company claims that it is poised to spend about $1 billion per year.

This is a big deal since Google, Microsoft, and others are spending billions of dollars as well. In February, however, I attended a small Microsoft ChatGPT event where CEO Satya Nadella announced the first ChatGPT on Bing.

But as Garman points out, Apple appears to have been backing away from this competition for the past year. We have only heard reports about ChatGPT's competitors, colloquially referred to as AppleGPT.

"There is a lot of concern about this," a source Gurman trusts told Bloomberg. 'It's considered a pretty big failure within the company.' [AppleGPT AI chatbots may already be in use within Apple, but we may not see it show up in Apple products this year or next. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (another proven prophet when it comes to Apple) is betting that AppleGPT will probably not come in 2024.

But if Apple starts integrating generative AI into its products and services, what does that mean for you?

It's very easy to let your mind wander and start daydreaming about how a company that sells expensive computing products could integrate AI-like chatbots into every aspect of its business.

Garman, however, has actually investigated how Apple is spending money and investing in AI for practical applications. He claims that Apple's senior executives in charge of AI, services, and software engineering (John Giannandrea, Eddie Cue, and Craig Federighi, respectively) incorporate AI-like tricks into Apple's apps, operating systems (especially iOS), etc. They are collectively working to spend an estimated $1 billion a year to do so.

Messages, Siri, and iOS

According to Gurman, Apple is working on multiple and deep levels to integrate AI into iOS. For example, he said the company is exploring ways to apply AI to Messages and Siri to improve their ability to answer questions and autocomplete sentences.

Apple Music and other apps

Apple's Eddie Cue is also reportedly trying to find ways to integrate AI into as many Apple apps as possible: Apple Music (AI generated playlists), Keynote and Pages (AI-generated notes and slide decks), and probably many others.

Garman also claims that Apple continues to explore ways to use AI chatbot technology (reportedly called "Ajax" internally) in its AppleCare program. That means AI-generated help scripts for employees, AI-assisted operations via internal apps, and who knows what else.

Xcode

Developers are not left out of Apple's AI plans. Developers are not left out of Apple's AI plans, as the company is reportedly working on ways to integrate an AI-like assistant into Xcode. For example, it may be able to write code faster and more efficiently by providing accurate automatic fix suggestions while coding.

Competitors like Microsoft have already done this by integrating technologies like ChatGPT into Github. At this point, however, the technology is advancing so rapidly that one can use ChatGPT to access AI tools to build apps and websites in as little as 30 minutes with just a text prompt.

We've heard all along that Apple is working on generative AI technology in-house, but Gurman's recent report helps us understand the scope and urgency of that work.

If his claims are true, then some in Apple's upper management are being told to build the best, most reliable generative AI technology possible and find ways to incorporate it into as many Apple products as possible. Given the wide availability and high quality of Apple's technology, the broad deployment of AI into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS could reshape the way many of us use technology.

According to Garman, however, Apple is a bit cautious about moving forward with this technology because of the potentially large impact it could have. The company is already in the midst of rolling out its $3,499 Apple Vision Pro (its biggest new product launch in years) in early 2024, which seems like a tough sell to many. Despite the current internal pressure to deliver Apple-grade AI technology, some within the company are concerned about the viability of this technology and are still debating important decisions such as whether to do generative AI computing work on the device or in the cloud, according to

Apple is also concerned about the feasibility of the technology.

If Apple offloads some of its generative AI work to the cloud, for example, it could be more powerful and capable than if it were run solely on a phone or tablet, but it could sacrifice data privacy, which is Apple's forte.

Whatever direction Apple takes, the results of this work will undoubtedly have a significant impact on Apple users.