Tim Cook teases Apple will ‘break new ground’ in AI this year

With the calendar set to change to March, there are two Apple affairs to look forward to: a rumored spring event and WWDC in June. As always, all eyes will be on Apple’s software updates and Tim Cook has dropped a big hint about what we can expect to learn about during the WWDC keynote.

During Apple’s annual shareholder meeting this week, Tim Cook made the unusual pronouncement that Apple will “break new ground” in generative AI this year, presumably as part of iOS 18. This follows equally vague comments during Apple’s first-quarter earnings call where Cook said Apple is spending “a tremendous amount of time and effort” on AI development and is “excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year.”

Apple has been slow to produce any consumer tools using generative AI, but it’s clear that the company has been working with the tech. Aside from rumors that AI will feature heavily in this year’s software releases, Apple has published numerous research papers on topics related to AI, including image editing and creation and cost-efficient specialized language models.

Of course, AI and machine learning already play a major part in things like Siri and predictive text, and it’s expected that Apple’s latest efforts will improve on them while adding new features that compete with the likes of Google’s Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. For example, Apple recently purchased the iwork.ai domain leading to speculation that it will add AI creation tools to its office productivity suite.

Apple is expected to unveil iOS 18, macOS 15, and the rest of its 2024 operating system updates at WWDC, which is usually held in early June.