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Apple’s AI strategy at WWDC likely to focus on iPhone, but privacy is a challenge

  • AI and perhaps even a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI will likely be a driving theme at Apple’s developers’ conference on Monday

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People look at the iPhone 15 at an announcement of new products in Cupertino, California, on September 12, 2023. Photo: AP
Apple on Monday will attempt to persuade doubters on its AI strategy after rivals raced ahead in adopting artificial intelligence (AI).
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AI and perhaps even a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI will likely be a driving theme at the kick-off of Apple’s WWDC developers’ conference in Silicon Valley, according to analysts.

The conference is Apple’s annual rendezvous for developers who create apps for iPads, Macs and iPhones – and CEO Tim Cook will work hard to convince his audience that the company is a major AI player.

Apple CEO Tim Cook walks after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on April 17, 2024. Photo: AP
Apple CEO Tim Cook walks after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on April 17, 2024. Photo: AP
While Apple has been quietly including AI features in its hardware for years, it has yet to solidify its overall strategy or embrace ChatGPT-style generative AI that took the world by storm in late 2022.
Rivals Microsoft and Google have meanwhile rolled out products in rapid-fire succession, propelling Microsoft and the AI chip maker Nvidia to surpass Apple as the world’s biggest companies when measured by stock price.

Apple’s share price has been on a roller-coaster ride since the spark of the AI frenzy, but believers see Monday’s announcements as the start of a new chapter for the iPhone maker.

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While its “silence has been deafening, that will all change on June 10, when Apple crosses the AI Rubicon”, predicted Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at research firm Forrester.

At the heart of the announcements will almost certainly be an update to Apple’s iPhone operating system, iOS 18, which is expected to see AI given a central role.

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