The tech giant is also expected to stress its ability to run AI models on its billions of devices, a potential asset in its race to compete on AI, The Information reported Thursday (May 28).
Apple is likely to use its Worldwide Developers Conference to showcase how its 15 years of experience in designing custom silicon chips for its devices will give it an edge when running AI models locally on iPhones, watches and Macs, the report said.
Apple’s hesitance to invest further in AI has led to criticism from investors and commentators who think the company could be left behind as AI becomes a greater part of personal devices, according to the report. Microsoft, for example, is forecasting capital expenditures of $190 billion for the year.
But as other tech companies’ AI spending balloons, some technologists have begun to worry about overspending on AI computing capacity, while looking more favorably on Apple’s caution, the report said.
“I think the data center boom is a mistake,” said David Stout, CEO of Austin-based AI startup webAI, per the report. “Intelligence is getting smaller. Data centers won’t disappear, but the majority of work will happen at the edge. Apple made the bet correctly there.”
Stout is part of a growing group of AI developers banking on new businesses based around Apple hardware, according to the report. His company develops specialized AI applications for businesses that run locally on Apple chips.
It was reported May 5 that Apple plans to offer third-party AI models alongside its in-house models, part of the company’s strategy to turn its devices into AI platforms by making it easy for customers to access the options they want.
“For two decades, the smartphone was the device people carried to access the internet,” PYMNTS reported May 7. “Now it’s becoming the device they carry to access artificial intelligence. The companies that understand the difference are building phones, forging $50 billion alliances and racing to control the operating system in the consumer’s hand.”
The PYMNTS Intelligence Consumer AI Adoption Benchmark, based on data from nearly 20,000 U.S. consumers tracked monthly, showed the fastest-growing AI tasks in the last six months are household logistics, discount code searches and meal planning.
“All those tasks that happen on a phone, not a desktop,” the report said.
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