Apple unveiled an artificial intelligence overhaul for the iPhone on Monday, turning to Google for help two years after the company stalled on its first 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 longtime executive John Ternus in September.
Cook two years ago announced at the same conference that Apple was taking a big step to embrace AI, in a program called Apple Intelligence, as the company faced pressure to join the AI race that had engulfed its US tech giant rivals.
But its promised rollout never quite materialized, with a long-awaited improvement to the Siri voice assistant failing to materialize despite announcements, drawing a lawsuit from some US customers that the company settled earlier this year.
Apple’s more deliberate pace to enter the artificial intelligence 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 build AI capacity.
The company underscored this narrative at the event, saying it was taking its time to get the technology right.
“AI is incredibly powerful technology with the potential to shape society in profound ways, and with the right care, it unlocks meaningful benefits for people everywhere,” Apple chief software officer Craig Federighi said in a launch video.
“However, some seem to be racing ahead, seemingly pursuing AI for AI’s sake, with no clear consideration for the people… it is ultimately meant to serve.”
The company again promised a strengthened Siri — called Siri AI — with the ability to communicate naturally and track information across apps like Maps and Mail and perform tasks.
Many of the advances Apple announced on Monday have already been rolled out to individual users by Google, with AI-powered features added to Gmail, Maps and its Android operating system for smartphones and tablets.
“Apple is making a big bet on AI — but their bet is that they don’t need to spend hundreds of billions a year on AI infrastructure…to reap the benefits,” said John Gruber, a closely followed blogger who follows Apple.
Instead of building models in-house, Apple hired Google to provide the AI capabilities for its new capabilities, using a version of the search engine giant’s Gemini model rather than any technology developed in-house.
Google and Apple are already closely tied, with Google paying tens of billions of dollars each year to be the default search engine in the iPhone’s Safari web browser.
Apple also promoted its parental controls as tech companies face growing pressure around the world over children’s safety and screen addiction.
These included enhanced means of allowing time for children, with particular attention to social media and games.
Despite the lack of a competing AI offering, Apple stock has largely defied gravity over the past two years, and the stock is up about 15 percent this year.
In the first quarter of this year, Apple’s iPhone sales grew by double digits in almost every country where it does business.
