Tim Cook says Apple is building AI into ‘every product’ amid questions over its plans

Andrew Griffin
Friday 04 August 2023 13:08 EDT
Comments
Apple Betting on Future Products as Sales Continue to Slump

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are “virtually embedded in every product”, Apple chief executive Tim Cook has said, amid ongoing questions over the company’s plans.

In recent months, as hype over AI has increased and most of Apple’s competitors have rolled out new features making use of the technology, Apple has stayed largely silent on its plans. During its recent Worldwide Developers Conference keynote event, for instance, it did not mention the world artificial intelligence at all.

That has led to concerns from some analysts that the company is failing to keep up with the quickly advancing technology, and that it could miss out on the opportunities it could bring.

But Tim Cook said Apple has been looking into artificial intelligence “for years” and that it was increasing that investment. Mr Cook made the comments as the company revealed its latest results, which showed a slump in sales of many of its products that was slightly offset by the increasing success of its services division.

He also said that the technology are central the design of its products, indicating that it was wrong to suggest that Apple had not yet integrated the technologies into its products.

“We view AI and ML as fundamental core technologies. And they are virtually embedded in every product that we build,” Mr Cook told CNBC in an interview.

“On a research basis, we’ve been doing research for on AI and machine learning, including generative AI, for years,” he added.

The chief executive also said that Apple’s focus on artificial intelligence was one of the reasons that the results showed an increase in spending on research and development.

“We’re going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies to help enrich people’s lives,” Cook said. “Obviously, we’re investing a lot, and it is showing up in the R&D spending that you’re looking at.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in