Apple is going big with AI this year

 Apple’s New AI Move would be The Game changer For All iPhone Users

The fact that Apple is going to debut a new generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool this year is probably one of the worst-kept secrets in tech at the moment. Now, another morsel has leaked out surrounding Apple’s future AI plans, and it could shed light on what sort of AI features Apple fans might soon get to experience. Apple has just ramped up its AI plans after buying Canadian startup DarwinAI. It comes just months before the release of the iPhone maker’s iOS 18 software and as Apple makes its first major push into generative AI this year.

Apple bought DarwinAI earlier this year, and the firm’s employees have joined the iPhone maker’s AI division, according to reports available, which cites “people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t been announced.” As reported, earlier this year Apple bought Canadian startup DarwinAI, with dozens of the company’s workers joining Apple once the deal was completed. It’s thought that Apple made this move in an attempt to bolster its AI capabilities in the last few months before iOS 18 will be revealed, which is expected to happen at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June this year.

Ahead of the iOS 18 launch, which is already earmarked for a number of cool, AI enabled features which could make technology “inspect components during the manufacturing process.” Report says that DarwinAI “has developed AI technology for visually inspecting components during the manufacturing process.” One of its “core technologies,” however, is making AI faster and more efficient, and that could be the reason Apple chose to open its wallet. Apple intends its AI to run entirely on-device, presumably to protect your privacy by not sharing AI inputs with the cloud, and this would benefit from DarwinAI’s tech. After all, Apple won’t want its flagship AI features to result in sluggish iPhone performance.

Another advantage of DarwinAI that will benefit Apple specifically is the company has developed tech which can make AI systems smaller and faster. “That could be helpful to Apple, which is focused on running AI on devices rather than entirely in the cloud,” Bloomberg writes. This is apparently just the latest move Apple has made in the AI arena. Thanks to a series of leaks and statements from Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company is known to be making serious efforts to challenge AI market leaders like OpenAI and Microsoft.

The DarwinAI deal also gives Apple some very able staff to help develop AI as iOS 18 takes shape. One of these is Alexander Wong, describes as “an AI researcher at the University of Waterloo who helped build the business.” Wong is reportedly taking on the role of director of Apple’s AI Group, which means he’ll be spearheading the firm’s generative AI push ahead of the launch of iOS 18 and beyond. For instance, it’s been widely reported that Apple will soon unveil its own generative AI tool, which has been dubbed Ajax and AppleGPT during its development process. This could give a major boost to Apple’s Siri assistant, which has long lagged behind competitors such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. In addition, we could see generative AI tools debut in apps like Pages and Apple Music, rivalling products like Microsoft’s Copilot and Spotify’s AI DJ.

It’s certainly a major move for Apple, and the purchase of DarwinAI could give it the credentials to properly compete in the AI space against rivals such as Google and Microsoft. It also explains the big plans for iOS 18 that we have seen talked about this year. When iOS 18 launches at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the upgraded iPhone operating system is expected to include several new AI-based features. Last year, it emerged that the iPhone maker was using AI to test its software for bugs in iOS 18 and to help improve its performance. Other iOS 18 features include AI-enhanced Siri and auto-summarizing and auto-completion features in apps, all underpinned by the iPhone maker’s large language model Ajax.

Bloomberg Apple commentator Mark Gurman recently wrote in his Power On newsletter that iOS 18 is “seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates—if not the biggest—in the company’s history.” The momentum is there, fuelled further by Apple’s purchase of DarwinAI. Apple hasn’t been shy about shouting about its AI credentials, as we’ve seen by the well-reported words of Tim Cook. But make no mistake, iOS is going to be game-changing for your iPhone, user's just need to make sure that they are careful how you to use the technology. And with Apple, privacy is always at the core, so expect iOS 18 and accompanying AI features to come with stringent user controls you can take advantage of.

Tim Cook has dropped several hints regarding Apple’s plans, saying customers can expect to see a host of AI features “later this year.” The Apple chief has called AI a “huge opportunity” for his company and has said that Apple intends to “break new ground” in this area. When it comes to specifics, though, Cook has been far less forthcoming, presumably preferring to reveal all at WWDC. It’s unknown whether Apple will have time to properly integrate DarwinAI’s tools into iOS 18 before it is announced for all, but it seems certain it will make use of them in the future. It could be just one more piece of the AI puzzle that Apple is attempting to solve for all.