Apple made a big deal about its artificial intelligence (AI) features, which it dubs Apple Intelligence, at the iPhone 16 launch. But the company’s AI isn’t actually available yet and won’t be for a while. And moreover, it won’t be the best AI out there, and Apple knows it.
Bloomberg‘s reliable Mark Gurman noted in his recent Apple-centric ‘Power On’ newsletter that the iPhone maker’s staff believe the company’s generative AI features are “more than two years behind” other players. Gurman, citing information shared with him by Apple employees, also highlighted the company’s internal studies and research that found OpenAI’s ChatGPT was 25 percent more accurate and able to answer 30 percent more questions than Siri.
But it’s not just employees — Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that Apple wasn’t the first to do intelligence, though he still thinks Apple is doing it in a way that’s “best for the customer.”
“We’re perfectly fine with not being first,” Cook told the WSJ. “As it turns out, it takes a while to get it really great. It takes a lot of iteration. It takes worrying about every detail. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to do that. We would rather come out with that kind of product and that kind of contribution to people versus running to get something out first. If we can do both, that’s fantastic. But if we can only do one, there’s no doubt around here. If you talk to 100 people, 100 of them would tell you: It’s about being the best.”
Another part of the WSJ interview that struck me was that Cook said he relies on Apple Intelligence’s email summary capabilities to help save time.
“If I can save time here and there,” he says, “it adds up to something significant across a day, a week, a month,” Cook said. “It’s changed my life. It really has.”
While I’m not exactly on board with Cook’s view on AI — it certainly hasn’t changed my life in any meaningful way other than that I know have to spend a lot more time writing about it than before — I also wouldn’t bet against Apple on AI. As Gurman noted in his newsletter, Apple has “nearly limitless resources” and a history of coming from behind with excellent products. Gurman thinks Apple will eventually develop, hire or acquire its way to the top tier of AI.
Until then, it’s worth giving the full interview with Cook and the WSJ a read. It’s an interesting peak into the mind of Cook, who’s historically quite private. You can find the full interview here.
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
