Apple invests in development of AI and buys up AI startups: Will new technology appear in iPhones?

Apple is quietly, but confidently and systematically increasing its capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). In recent months, the company has acquired several startups working in this area, and has also begun hiring relevant specialists and updating equipment. All this, as the Financial Times writes, along with information from insiders, indicates that the company plans to launch generative AI directly on its mobile devices.

According to media reports, Apple is more active than its competitors in acquiring AI startups and investing in the development of this area. According to PitchBook, from 2017 to 2023, the company acquired 21 startups specializing in the field of neural networks and artificial intelligence. In early 2023, Apple, for example, acquired California-based startup WaveOne, which developed video compression technology using AI.

A recent study by Morgan Stanley found that nearly half of Apple's AI job openings include the term Deep Learning (referring to the algorithms that power generative AI models). In addition, back in 2018, the company hired John Giannandrea, who previously headed the machine learning department at Google. According to insiders, all this also indicates that the company is working on its own large language models (LLM).

Financial Times editors believe Apple plans to use generative AI in its mobile devices, so that chatbots and AI apps rely on the smartphone's own hardware and software rather than cloud services.

Interestingly, Apple is clearly trying to keep its plans to develop and implement AI in its products secret, while the company's competitors, including Microsoft, Google and Amazon, openly talk about their multi-billion dollar investments in advanced technologies.

At the WWDC developer conference this summer, Apple is expected to unveil the iOS 18 operating system. Morgan Stanley analysts believe that the new version of Apple's mobile software will be focused on supporting generative AI and may include an updated Siri voice assistant based on large language models.