By Mark Gurman | Bloomberg
Apple Inc. announced its long-awaited new artificial intelligence features, including tools supported by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, promising to deliver technology that’s personalized, safe and deeply integrated into the iPhone maker’s software.
The platform, called “Apple Intelligence,” will help summarize text, create original images and retrieve the most relevant data when users need it, Senior Vice President Craig Federighi said at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The tech giant also unveiled new versions of operating systems for the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
“This is a moment we’ve been working toward for a long time,” Federighi, who oversees software engineering, said at the event.
The partnership with OpenAI will let Apple customers access ChatGPT via the Siri digital assistant at no extra cost. The features will be available to users through a beta test later this year, with some capabilities coming in 2025, Federighi said, describing it as “AI for the rest of us.”
OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman was at Monday’s event and wrote on the social media site X that he was “very happy” to be teaming up with Apple.
Ensuring that customer data is secure was a major theme of the presentation. A system called Private Cloud Compute will help keep users’ information safe when it’s being sent to data centers, Federighi said.
Apple used the conference to showcase updated versions of all its operating systems, but the AI details were what investors and users were most eager to hear. The company is playing catch-up in the generative AI industry, where tech peers like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. have made major inroads.
The keynote presentation from Apple headquarters in Cupertino lasted less than two hours. The event included a look at the new iOS 18, which runs on Apple’s iPhone. That software will allow users to customize and secure their applications, including a feature that lets people lock individual apps.
Email and texts also are getting new capabilities, such as more effects and the ability to use satellite connections to send messages. Users will also be able to sort email by categories.
Earlier in the event, the company unveiled visionOS 2, the latest version of its software for the Vision Pro headset. The OS lets users turn regular photos into 3D images and updates the interface with new gestures.
Apple also announced plans to launch the Vision Pro internationally, with preorders beginning in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore on June 13. The device will go on sale in those areas June 28. That will be followed by Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK. Preorders will begin in those countries June 28, and sales will start July 12.
New AirPods software, meanwhile, will make it easier to hear users’ voices during a phone call by removing background noise. The Apple Watch will get additional health capabilities, such as enhanced pregnancy tracking and an app that shows at-a-glance vital statistics. And a redesigned watch face will use machine learning to present users’ photos on the device.
Fulfilling a longstanding customer request, Apple is finally bringing its calculator app to the iPad — a move that drew applause from the crowd. The software will take advantage of the Apple Pencil and let users solve equations by writing them by hand.
The new Mac software is called Sequoia and will make it easier to mirror the iPhone on users’ computers.
Apple had an early lead in AI after it launched Siri in 2011, but the technology was quickly overtaken by the Google Assistant and Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa. Then AI took another giant leap forward when OpenAI’s ChatGPT arrived at the end of 2022.
That led to a flurry of other services, including ones from Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms Inc. Samsung Electronics Co. — Apple’s biggest smartphone rival — also integrated Google AI features into its devices earlier this year.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is now under pressure to show that the iPhone maker can lead again. The company also is contending with a broader sales slump. Revenue declined in five of the past six quarters in the face of sluggish smartphone demand and a slowdown in China.
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