Apple unveiled an artificial intelligence overhaul for the iPhone on Monday, turning to Google for help two years after the company stumbled in an initial attempt.
The presentation marked Apple CEO Tim Cook’s final appearance at the company’s annual developer conference. Cook will hand over the reins to his longtime leader, John Ternus, in September.
Two years ago, Cook announced at the same conference that Apple was taking a big step toward AI, under a program called Apple Intelligence, as the company faced pressure to join the AI race that had engulfed its U.S. tech giant rivals.
But the promised rollout was never fully realized, with the highly anticipated upgrade to voice assistant Siri failing to materialize despite announcements, leading to a lawsuit from some U.S. customers that the company settled earlier this year.
Apple’s more deliberate pace in entering the AI frenzy has won praise from some analysts, who credit the company with staying out of the hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending by rivals to develop AI capability.
The company emphasized this narrative at the event, saying it was taking time to get the technology right.
“AI is an incredibly powerful technology that has the potential to shape society in profound ways and, with the right care, unlock significant benefits for people around the world,” Apple software chief Craig Federighi said in a launch video.
“Yet some seem to be moving forward, seemingly seeking AI for AI’s sake, with no clear concern for the people… whom it is ultimately intended to serve.”
The company once again promised a beefed-up Siri – dubbed Siri AI – with the ability to communicate naturally, track information on apps like Maps and Mail, and complete tasks.
Many of the advances Apple announced on Monday have already been rolled out to individual users by Google, with AI-based features added to Gmail, Maps and its Android operating system for smartphones and tablets.
“Apple is betting big on AI, but its bet is that you don’t have to spend hundreds of billions a year on AI infrastructure… to reap the benefits,” said John Gruber, a blogger closely followed by Apple.
Instead of building models in-house, Apple hired Google to provide the AI capabilities needed for its new capabilities, using a version of the search engine giant’s Gemini model rather than technology developed in-house.
Google and Apple are already closely linked, with Google paying tens of billions of dollars each year to become the default search engine for the iPhone’s Safari web browser.
Apple has also touted its parental controls as tech companies face growing pressure around the world over child safety and screen addiction.
These included strengthened tools around time allocated to children, with particular attention to social media and games.
Despite the company’s lack of a competitive AI offering, Apple shares have largely defied gravity over the past two years, and the stock is up about 15% this year.
In the first quarter of this year, Apple iPhone sales grew by double digits in almost every country where the company operates.
