Smarter Siri and Apple's Generative AI have been in the news for months now. Yesterday, during the company's quarterly earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook made rare comments about the company's investments in artificial intelligence. He said the company is working on generative AI capabilities that are expected to be available to customers “later this year.”
Now, this comment confirms rumors that iOS 18 could be Apple's biggest update ever. There are also a number of leaks and hints that artificial intelligence and its deep integration will significantly shape iOS 18. Additionally, code references for iOS 17.4 also suggested that Apple is working on its own large-scale language model, codenamed Ajax.
“As we look to the future, we will continue to invest in these and other technologies that will shape our future. That includes AI, and we will spend a huge amount of time on AI. We look forward to sharing details of our ongoing efforts in that area later this year.” – Tim Cook
Although Cook's remarks did not include any specifics, he made a strong case against some industry commentators and experts who believe Apple is lagging behind in competition with Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. It seems like he wanted to. For reference, these competitors are already developing cutting-edge AI models that will deliver ChatGPT-like experiences in 2023, but Apple has yet to deploy AI generation capabilities.
“Without going into any further detail or getting ahead of ourselves, let me just say that I think Apple has a huge opportunity with generative AI and AI.” – Tim Cook
According to several reports and leaks, the Cupertino tech giant is all set to bring AI capabilities to Siri. Many people scoff at Siri for not evolving like other voice assistants, but Apple could change that perspective in a big way.
The giant appears to be working on a new “Siri 2.0” that primarily leverages its latest generative AI large language models. Apple also plans to roll out some exciting AI features across iOS, including playlist recommendations in Apple Music and smart replies in Messages. Apple plans to integrate AI into all of its software platforms, including iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
Apple is following its timeline to announce the next major versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS at its annual WWDC event in June. It's worth mentioning that Cook doesn't explicitly mention WWDC. That being said, the “later this year” comment is probably pretty much in line with that schedule. If it did not start in the initial version, it may appear in future software updates.
