Apple Intelligence: iPhone partners ChatGPT for AI integration

Apple CEO Tim Cook used the firm’s Worldwide Developers Conference to launch “Apple Intelligence”, which, he said, would be the “next big step” for the Californian firm.

Cook and his team outlined upcoming upgrades to Apple’s software that will integrate ChatGPT into the company’s voice assistant, Siri, and offer more personalised, AI-powered features on its smartphones, tablets, and computers.

The move follows similar steps from Apple’s major tech rivals to capitalise on the AI boom, with the likes of Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta all announcing new products and partnerships.

Apple Intelligence will be “rooted in privacy”, Apple claimed, amid warnings from Tesla CEO Elon Musk over the move to integrate ChatGPT.

Taking to his social media platform X, Musk warned that if Apple decides to integrate ChatGPT at an OS level, he will ban Apple devices across his companies, which include X, Tesla and SpaceX.

“That is an unacceptable security violation,” he tweeted. “And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage.”

Musk was one of the founders of ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, but his relationship with the company has soured over the years. The billionaire has accuses his fellow founders of failing to follow its founding principles.

Indispensable

To ensure privacy, Apple said its models would run locally on devices and its own cloud servers, while OpenAI promised that requests would not be stored by the AI firm and user IP addresses would be obscured.

“It’s aware of your personal data without collecting your personal data,” added Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi.

Industry figures welcomed Apple’s plans to ensure privacy was central to its AI plans. Michael Covington, VP of strategy at Jamf, commented that Apple had struck a “thoughtful balance between privacy, performance and feature richness” by leveraging the internal power of its devices while also “providing options to augment with cloud-based resources as needed.”

He added: “Like many previous Apple features, users are empowered to take control of their data. And the integrations between Apple Intelligence and OpenAI are a great example of where clear notifications and user control are likely to enhance the end-user experience and encourage broader adoption of these innovative and productivity-enhancing offerings.”

The partnership with OpenAI will be a key component of Apple’s proprietary generative AI features, which it has dubbed “Apple Intelligence.” These features are based on Apple’s own models and customised to the user.

Apple chief Cook said the AI features would be “indispensable” in the company’s products in the years ahead. It will allow Siri to tap into the power of ChatGPT’s models, though Apple promised to include security features, including asking user permission before sharing data with the chatbot.

The AI functions will launch alongside iOS 18, which will likely be made available in September to coincide with the next generation of iPhone, as well as operating systems on the iPad and Mac later this year.

Other features showcased by the Apple executives included image generation, custom emojis, and tools to help rewrite documents.

Apple’s AI plans will allow millions of users to easily adopt AI assistants, which is a “vital step in creating broader adoption,” according to Ciena International CTO Jurgen Hatheier. However, he warned that this will also create a huge demand for communications network infrastructure.

“As a result, service providers are investing to upgrade and fortify their networks and connect the data centre sites that process all of this data to ensure users can experience a reliable and positive AI experience,” he added.

Key to adoption is providing “transparency, interpretability and ‘explainability’ from AI systems”, warned Informatica GVP for EMEA North Greg Hanson.

“These are still the early green shoots of Gen AI. A lot still needs to be ironed out — users need to be educated on how to best ask questions that generate valuable answers,” he added.

“Ultimately, there are no shortcuts in AI development. Developing an application that lives up to the promise of its name will require holistic, high-quality and well-governed data foundations with adequate data access management and privacy controls baked in.”

European vision

Though ‘Apple Intelligence’ captured the headlines on the first day of its developer conference, the Californian phone maker also made several other key announcements, including the global rollout of its Vision Pro spatial computing headset.

Vision Pro went on sale in the US in January, but Apple revealed that it will be available to pre-order in China, Japan, and Singapore from June 13 and go on sale in these countries from June 28.

Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK will get pre-orders of the headset at the end of June, with it officially becoming available on July 12 in those regions.

“The enthusiasm for Apple Vision Pro has been extraordinary, and we are thrilled to introduce the magic of spatial computing to more customers around the world,” said Cook.

Apple also unveiled plans to update the operating system for Vision Pro later this year, updating the device’s home screen and adding new hand gestures and photo features.

It will also include support for third-party devices, such as traditional computer mice and web video players, outside of Apple’s own Safari browser.

Takeup of the Apple Vision Pro has reportedly fallen below expectations. Still, speaking exclusively to TechInformed, Orange’s global head of immersive and GenAI marketing, Morgan Bouchet, said its enterprise partners were already exploring the possibilities of the spatial computing solution ahead of its European launch.

“We are exploring the Vision OS with our partners and our internal developers to be sure of all the opportunities and capabilities offered by this device,” he said — read the full interview here.

“We are working to explore what can be done for our own business clients. Large enterprises are already exploring use cases around digital twins, such as city management and factories, but also our own internal needs to connect spatial computing with our own offering.”