Apple’s AI Developer Team Takes a Piece of the AI Pie
Bloomberg’s report revealed that Apple’s AI developer team is making significant strides by secretly developing an AI chatbot codenamed “Apple GPT” using its own framework, “Ajax.”
- “Ajax” serves as the foundation for creating large language models, with a focus on addressing privacy concerns related to AI technology.
- Despite previous AI features in products, Apple found itself behind in the burgeoning market for generative AI tools.
- Apple aims to integrate its Large Language Models technology into Siri to enhance the voice assistant’s capabilities.
On July 19th, Bloomberg reported that Apple’s AI developer team was developing an AI chatbot, codenamed “Apple GPT,” using the Big Tech giant’s large language model framework, “Ajax.”
The AI tool could potentially rival the offerings of industry giants like OpenAI and Google. However, the company has yet to decide on a clear strategy for releasing the technology to consumers.
According to Bloomberg’s insider information, Apple’s AI developer team has been diligently working on a new framework called “Ajax,” which serves as the foundation for creating large language models (LLM)—the core of popular AI offerings like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. The iPhone parent’s dedicated teams have been actively collaborating on the project, with a particular focus on addressing privacy concerns related to AI technology.
Apple’s move towards intelligent technology comes after the successful debut of AI-powered products such as ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing AI by competitors like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Despite incorporating AI features into its products over the years, Apple found itself trailing behind in the rapidly expanding market for generative tools capable of creating essays, images, and even videos based on text prompts.
One of the tech company’s most notable AI products, the Siri voice assistant, struggled to keep up with the competition due to the company’s primary focus on other areas and a more conservative approach to feature adoption, prioritizing user privacy. However, with AI innovations rapidly transforming the way people interact with technology, Apple is eager not to miss the boat.
The Ajax framework and the internal ChatGPT-like tool have become integral components of Apple’s AI development efforts. The latter, initially an experiment by a small engineering team, has been extended to more employees within the company, albeit with special access approval due to security concerns. Though it cannot be used to develop features for customers, the chatbot assists Apple employees in product prototyping, text summarization, and answering questions based on its training data.
Apple’s AI initiative is being spearheaded by John Giannandrea, its head of machine learning and AI, and Craig Federighi, its top software engineering executive. Still, reports suggest that the duo hasn’t presented a unified front within the company, with Giannandrea favoring a conservative approach while closely monitoring developments from other AI pioneers.
While Apple remains cautious about rushing into the AI market, it has recognized the potential impact of generative AI on its business, especially considering its wide range of devices and services. In an interview with Good Morning America, Tim Cook, the company’s CEO, admitted to using ChatGPT and that it’s something that the AI developer team is “looking at closely.” As a result, Apple aims to integrate its Large Language Models (LLMs) technology into Siri, enabling the voice assistant to perform more tasks for users.
Although Apple is yet to make a formal announcement regarding the release of its AI tools, the company is actively seeking to hire experts in generative AI, hinting at its commitment to applying this technology to enhance communication, creativity, connectivity, and media consumption on iPhones and other devices.
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