Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) with its famous penchant for secrecy finally opened up about artificial intelligence (AI).
Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during an earnings call this week that the tech giant is planning to “weave” artificial intelligence into its products – but thinks there are still “issues that need to be sorted” with the technology.
Cook said that the “potential is certainly very interesting” and that some Apple products had integrated AI, a term that generally describes software that enables computers to learn and improve functions on their own.
“We view AI as huge,” Cook said during Apple’s earning call when he was asked what he thought about AI and where Apple was planning to use it.
Cook responded that Apple would not reveal “product roadmaps” but that AI was a key focus for Apple, and pointed to products such as its fall detection that are already built on such systems.
“I do think it’s very important to be deliberate and thoughtful in how you approach these things,” Cook said. “And there’s a number of issues that need to be sorted, as is being talked about in a number of different places. But the potential is certainly very interesting.”
Cook said Apple has obviously made enormous progress integrating AI and machine learning throughout its ecosystem.
“We view AI as huge and we’ll continue weaving it in our products on a very thoughtful basis,” said Cook.
Apple has stayed largely silent on AI, even as its competitors have rushed to release AI-powered new products. Again, this is as much anyone is ever going to glean from Apple about new products.
Cook himself once joked that the tech giant is more secretive than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Apple is yet to release any products built on the kind of generative AI that powers text systems such as ChatGPT, or image creation tools such as Midjourney.
Apple has bested analyst expectations for its fiscal 2Q, driven by a surprise jump in iPhone sales and continued strong growth in Apple’s services business, which helped offset a fall in sales of Macs.
Separately, Apple announced it would hike its dividend by another 4% and authorized an additional $90 billion share buyback program.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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