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☆ Apple's first AI move may be outsourcing the mess to Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Why handle the mess of AI by itself when it can pass it on to someone else? AdvertisementApple does, of course, want an AI strategy, despite all the mess the technology brings with it. Fresh AI features could help Apple boost falling iPhone sales in China. Fresh generative AI features could give iPhones the extra edge they need to boost sales again. In addition, Apple will have several new AI features based on its own, homegrown LLM models we expect to be unveiled at WWDC this June.

Persons: —, Tim Cook, they've, Apple, Perfectionism, Steve Jobs, Cook, OpenAI's GPT, Dan Ives Organizations: Service, Google, Bloomberg, Apple, Business, Publishing, Getty, Worldwide Locations: China, China —

☆ The iPhone needs a revamp, and its sagging performance in China is proof
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Lina Batarags | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe last thing Tim Cook needs this year is for the iPhone to give him a headache. Unfortunately for Apple, that task could be complicated as signs emerge that its workhorse gadget needs a revamp. In its most recent quarter, Apple generated almost $70 billion of its $119.6 billion total revenue from iPhone sales. China, Apple's most important international market, has started to sour on iPhones, bucking a trend of growth in other regions. Apple's AI efforts, led by ex-Googler and senior vice president John Giannandrea, could introduce several AI features to iPhones that offer an edge over Chinese competitors.

Persons: —, Tim Cook, Cook, Steve Jobs, Paul Sakuma, Will Wong, Wong, Wang Gang, Gene Munster, Munster, Dan Ives, John Giannandrea, Siri, Jobs Organizations: Service, Apple, Vision, Business, Macworld, Counterpoint Research, Vivo, Huawei, Wall Street Journal, IDC's, Devices, Research, Asset Management Locations: Cupertino, China, Greater China, Beijing, Singapore, IDC's Asia

☆ Tim Cook is finally talking about AI on his own terms
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Everyone has been waiting for Tim Cook to talk about Apple's foray into AI. The comments come as Apple's Big Tech rivals benefit from their early moves in the technology. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementIt's been a long time coming, but Tim Cook is finally talking about artificial intelligence on his own terms. CEO Satya Nadella described the period as one in which the company "moved from talking about AI to applying AI at scale."

Persons: Tim Cook, —, It's, Mark Zuckerberg, Josh Edelson, Satya Nadella, Mark Gurman, John Giannandrea, Craig Federighi, Cook, Christoph Dernbach, Goldman, Mike Ng, We've Organizations: Big Tech, Service, Apple, Apple's Big Tech, —, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Getty, Vision, Apple Vision Pro, Huawei Locations: AFP, China

☆ Apple's been relatively quiet about AI — but it's been pouring billions into research, and that could mean a 'smarter' Siri
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Sebastian Cahill | Kai Xiang Teo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Since the AI boom began, Apple has been quieter about incorporating the new technology than its peers. To catch up, the company is planning updates to Siri that incorporate AI. His employees are reworking a "smarter " Siri that uses them, per Bloomberg. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut Apple's lag doesn't mean they haven't been thinking of AI before this year: "We've been doing research across a wide range of AI technologies, including generative AI, for years," Cook told Reuters in August. AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd to be sure, while Apple's AI push may have been muted, it is predominantly a hardware company.

Persons: Siri, —, John Giannandrea, Craig Federighi —, Per Forbes, hasn't, Apple, it's, Tim Cook, We've, Cook Organizations: Apple, Bloomberg, Service, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Worldwide, Reuters, Ajax —, Ajax

☆ Apple, caught by surprise in generative AI boom, to spend $1 billion per year to catch up: Report
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Jake Piazza | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Apple is on track to spend $1 billion per year on developing its generative artificial intelligence products, Bloomberg reported. The spending comes as the company plays catch-up to some competitors who have already debuted new AI products and features, such as Google , Microsoft and Amazon , according to the report Sunday. Apple uses AI in its products but hasn't launched a generative AI product along the lines of OpenAI's ChatGPT or Google Bard. For the latter, Apple would use AI to create auto-generated playlists like Spotify does via its partnership with OpenAI. The company is also exploring using AI in Xcode to assist app developers, according to the report.

Persons: Tim Cook, hasn't, Google Bard, Apple GPT, Siri, John Giannandrea, Craig Federighi, Eddy, wasn't Organizations: Apple, Bloomberg, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Ajax, OpenAI

☆ Apple considered buying Bing from Microsoft in 2018
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Apple executives have said they picked Google because it's the best search engine, not primarily because of Google's payments. The deal with Microsoft wasn't completed and Giannandrea said he believed Apple CEO Tim Cook told Microsoft it wasn't going forward. Google pays Apple as much as $19 billion per year to be the default search engine on Apple products, according to an estimate . Microsoft was interested in Apple paying for improvements to the search engine, Giannandrea said, including expanding it to additional international markets. He also compared Bing and Google search in 2021 to see the progress Microsoft had made and found Google was significantly better at mobile queries.

Persons: Gabriel Weinberg, Apple, Giannandrea, Adrian Perica, Bing, Microsoft wasn't, Tim Cook, Siri, Apple's, John Giannandrea, he's, Cook, Satya Nadella Organizations: Google, Apple, Department, Bing, Microsoft, CNBC, DOJ

☆ Apple rejected opportunities to buy Microsoft’s Bing, integrate with DuckDuckGo
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But it also shows how Apple has wrestled with Google’s rise and how some at Apple yearned for “optionality.” Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. (Last week, Nadella testified that he has spent every year of his tenure as CEO trying to persuade Apple to adopt Bing.) He made a similar argument internally about DuckDuckGo, saying in an email that moving ahead with that partnership was “probably a bad idea.” (DuckDuckGo licenses search results from Bing.) Still, Giannandrea testified, some within Apple thought that dealing with Bing in some fashion could yield benefits to Apple. Apple today has the enormous resources to build a true rival to Google, Giannandrea testified.

Persons: Microsoft’s Bing, they’ve, Gabriel Weinberg, John Giannandrea, Apple, Apple didn’t, Laura Jones, Jeff Chiu, Giannandrea, Bing, Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Nadella, DuckDuckGo, Weinberg, Jakub Porzycki, ” Weinberg, ”, Apple’s, Cook, Bing “, “, Adrian Perica, ” Giannandrea, “ it’s Organizations: CNN, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cook, Bing, Mozilla, Opera, Samsung Locations: Bing, San Francisco

A redacted transcript unsealed late on Wednesday showed DuckDuckGo had struck a deal with Apple in 2014 to be shown as an option on Apple devices. Soon after, DuckDuckGo began pressing Apple to be made the default choice for users who wanted to work in privacy mode, which limited data collected on the user. DuckDuckGo has about 2.5% of the search market, he testified. In those meetings, Weinberg said, Apple executives would bring up the concern that its distribution agreements with Google may bar the change. The Justice Department has said that Google, which has some 90% of the search market, pays some $10 billion annually to Apple, other smartphone makers and others to be the default search.

Persons: Eric Gaillard, DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg, Weinberg, Apple, Apple's John Giannandrea, Bing, Giannandrea, Diane Bartz, Richard Chang, Marguerita Choy Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Apple, Google, Thomson

☆ DuckDuckGo CEO testified that Apple was 'really serious' about replacing Google as default for private browsing
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Apple once considered replacing Google as its default search engine in private browsing mode on its products in favor of DuckDuckGo, according to recently unsealed testimony by the rival search CEO. DuckDuckGo first got a response from Apple about its idea to become the default search engine in private browsing in 2016, Weinberg said. DuckDuckGo claims its search engine greatly reduces the amount of tracking that is still possible in other search engines, even while on private browsing mode. DuckDuckGo presented Apple executives with data about what Apple users expect from private browsing mode, which Weinberg said he'd thought "was pretty compelling." DuckDuckGO estimated its market share "would increase multiple times over" just by becoming the default in private browsing mode.

Persons: Gabriel Weinberg, Apple, Weinberg, Apple's, DuckDuckGo, Craig Federighi, he'd, Adler, John Giannandrea, Giannandrea, Apple didn't Organizations: DuckDuckGo Inc, Washington , D.C, Google, CNBC, Department, Apple, Microsoft, Bing, Worldwide Developers Conference, Samsung, Mozilla, Opera, YouTube Locations: Washington ,, Cupertino , California, Cupertino

☆ Google heads to court in a landmark trial that puts its search business in the crosshairs. Here's what's at stake.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It revolves around how Google pays partners to promote its search engine on their products. A law expert said the DOJ has a "pretty strong" case but has big hurdles to prove Google is liable. Much of the trial's outcome will be predicated on whether the deals Google made to promote its search engine excluded healthy competition. It's easy to switch your default search engine – we're long past the era of dial-up internet and CD-ROMs," Google's Walker said in a statement. It could also mirror a European Union decision to make Google give Android users a choice of search engine when they first set up their devices.

Persons: Harry First, Global Affairs Kent Walker, Amit Mehta, Google's Walker, William E, Kovacic, David Olson, Bing, Judge Mehta, Eddy, John Giannandrea, Adrian Perica, Sundar Pichai, Olson Organizations: Google, Department of Justice, DOJ, Service, Apple, Microsoft, NYU Law School, Global Affairs, George Washington University, Boston College, Reuters, Union, Street Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Apple execs lose bid to block testimony at Google antitrust trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Three senior Apple executives have lost their bid to stop the U.S. Justice Department from calling them as witnesses in the government's upcoming trial accusing Alphabet's Google of abusing its search power. Cue oversees Apple Music, Apple TV and other services. The Justice Department declined to comment. Google and its lawyers have denied any wrongdoing in the case, one of two Justice Department antitrust lawsuits against Google. The case is United States v. Google, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No.

Persons: Alphabet's, Eduardo Cue, John Giannandrea, Adrian Perica —, Judge Amit Mehta, Perica, John Schmidtlein, Mehta, Apple Organizations: Apple Computers, Apple, U.S . Justice, Washington , D.C, U.S, Companies, Cue, Apple Music, Google, Justice Department, District of Columbia, APM Locations: Silicon Valley, Cupertino , California, Washington ,, Mehta's court, United States, U.S

☆ Apple tests generative AI tools to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 19 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) is working on artificial intelligence (AI) offerings similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, sending its shares up as much as 2% to a record high. Apple has, however, subtly pushed advanced AI in some of its products such as Apple Photos, on device texting, and the recently launched mixed-reality headset Vision Pro. Apple's core AI product, voice assistant Siri, has also stagnated over the years. The Bloomberg report said several teams are involved in the latest AI effort, which is led by John Giannandrea, the company's head of machine learning and AI, and Craig Federighi, Apple's top software engineering executive. Employees say the tool essentially replicates Bard, ChatGPT and Bing AI, and works as a web application.

Persons: Google's Bard, Apple, Siri, John Giannandrea, Craig Federighi, ChatGPT, Bing, Yuvraj Malik, Devika Organizations: Bloomberg, Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Employees, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Apple is working on its own AI large language model and restricting employees from using ChatGPT over privacy concerns, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple is working on its own AI large language model, the WSJ reported. Its efforts are being led by Google's former AI chief and Tim Cook says it plans to "weave" AI into products. Apple has also told some employees to limit their use of ChatGPT and other external AI tools, per the WSJ. Apple is working on its own AI and restricting its staff's ChatGPT use over privacy concerns, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apple is also telling some employees to limit their use of ChatGPT and other external AI tools, according to an internal document seen by the Journal.

☆ Everyone knows Siri is way behind. It's partly why top Apple engineers have jumped ship to Google, report says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple is having a hard time convincing workers that Siri can keep up with new AI rivals. Apple lost three top engineers working on AI technology to Google, The Information reported. It's the latest example of how far behind Apple is seen to be on AI versus Google and OpenAI. Apple has lost three top engineers working on ChatGPT-like technology to Google, in a sign the iPhone-maker is struggling to supercharge its AI efforts and Siri as large language models go mainstream. They were personally poached by Google CEO Sundar Pichai after shunning Apple boss Tim Cook's efforts to keep them, the report said.

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