Apple is reportedly exploring a partnership with Google for Gemini AI
Apple is looking to team up with Google for a mega-deal to leverage the Gemini AI model for features on iPhone, Bloomberg reported. This will put Google in a commanding position as the company already has a deal with Apple as the preferred search engine provider on iPhones for the Safari browser.
The publication cited people familiar with the matter saying that Apple is looking to license Google's AI tech to introduce AI-powered features with iOS updates later this year. Additionally, the company also held discussions with OpenAI to potentially use GPT models, Bloomberg said.
Competition in the AI Field
There is surmounting pressure on Apple to catch up with competitors in the AI field such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, and even Google. In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company will introduce GenAI features "later this year."
The company's job listings over the last year have suggested that Apple is working on multiple internal and external tools powered by generative AI. However, talks of leveraging third-party AI tech means Apple hasn't progressed as expected in its own AI efforts.
Partnership with Google and Challenges Faced
Apple's own models might power some of the on-device features on the upcoming iOS 18 software update — expected to be announced at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) historically held in June. However, the company is exploring partnering with an external provider for generative AI use cases such as image creation and helping users with writing.
Google has had its own set of problems with Gemini. Last month, the company had to pause its image-generation feature after the model created images with historical inaccuracies. Later, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that Gemini's responses were "completely unacceptable." Last week, Google said that it is blocking election-related queries on Gemini across the globe. But TechCrunch found that users could get around those restrictions by introducing typos to some queries.
AI Advancements and Market Impact
AI could breathe life into the stagnant tech giant by kicking off an iPhone upgrade cycle. It looks like something out of the dystopian show “Black Mirror,” but it’s just the latest adaptation of robotics for the modern battlefield.
Apple stock has been making a comeback lately, and the artificial-intelligence upgrade coming for iPhones will drive shares even higher, said BofA Securities. Shares of Apple had a challenging start to the year as investors digested reports of weak demand in China and awaited for generative artificial-intelligence updates. It seemed that every other tech company was releasing its plans to get ahead in the GenAI race, but Apple has yet to announce any major updates.
Industry Collaboration and Expansion
The "Ultra Accelerator Link," is an attempt to establish an open standard for communication between artificial intelligence accelerators - systems that can help process the vast amounts of data employed in AI tasks. Other members include Alphabet-owned Google, Cisco System, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Intel. Nvidia, the biggest player in the AI chip market with a share of around 80%, is not part of the grouping.
With its list of Apple Design Awards finalists, Apple is celebrating indie apps and startups over bigger tech firms — including those offering AI chatbots. At a time when its App Store model has been called into question by legislators and regulators alike, Apple's annual list of what it considers the best and most technically innovative software available on its platform is turning its attention to the little guy. There's no ChatGPT to be found on Apple's list of finalists, for example.
Tencent Holdings on Thursday launched an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot app called Yuanbao, as the video gaming and social media giant races to catch up with other Chinese technology companies in developing applications to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. Yuanbao can be used to analyse and summarise documents, provide questions and answers, and generate texts and images, similar to the functions of ChatGPT and alternative Chinese AI chatbots. Tencent's AI assistant was built on the company's own technology.
With a young tech-savvy population of 670 million, Southeast Asia has been attracting plenty of interest and investment recently from technology giants including Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and Apple.
