At the upcoming Apple Global Developers Conference (WWDC2024), AI is expected to become a highlight.
According to Bloomberg's report today, Apple will launch an AI tool called Project Greymatter on WWDC2024 (expected to be held from June 10th to 14th, 2024), which will be integrated into Safari Core applications such as Photos and Notes, as well as some operating systems, allow users to apply Project Greymatter in iOS 18 and macOS 15.
This tool leans towards practicality and focuses on the daily life of ordinary consumers. Its functions include: voice to memo conversion AI mapping Spotlight search optimization Safari web search improvements, automatic suggested email/SMS replies, and intelligent generation. In addition, Siri's personal assistant will also be upgraded to provide a more natural interactive experience based on Apple's own large model, and use generative AI technology to create custom emoticons.
According to the introduction, Project Greymatter will be based on the "edge cloud collaboration" architecture and adopt a hybrid AI mode that combines cloud and edge terminals - most AI functions with lower computational density will be processed entirely on the device (supported by Apple's self-developed chip released last year), but if a certain function requires more computing power, the work will be run in the cloud (supported by the M2Ultra chip in the data center).
Apple promises that cloud based AI computing will not infringe on user privacy.
This is not the first conjecture about Apple AI. It is reported that Apple has reached an agreement with OpenAI to introduce ChatGPT into iOS18. Bloomberg Technology reporter Mark Gurman said that Apple has reached an agreement with OpenAI to integrate their chatbot ChatGPT into iOS18, and the partnership between the two is expected to be announced on WWDC2024.
However, due to concerns about making OpenAI a single supplier of a major new feature for iOS, Apple is still working to reach an agreement with Google, attempting to use Gemini as an alternative.
How does the industry view Apple's AI attempts?
Bloomberg Technology reporter Mark Gurman believes that on the one hand, Apple's upcoming AI features are purely catch-up and have not undergone leapfrog development. Google has developed many similar AI features on its Pixel devices. Samsung Electronics has abandoned self-developed device side AI software this year and instead used Gemini.
On the other hand, in terms of AI, Apple's advantage may lie in its large user base, which few competitors can match. Later this year, hundreds of millions of Apple devices worldwide will support these AI features, and Apple users will at least try these new features, which may make Apple the largest AI player overnight.