Apple is well aware of its position in the market as far as generative AI technology is concerned, and it is taking drastic measures to secure its spot. We have previously reported that the company is working on a wide range of large language models and complex tools to edit and manipulate images. The technology giant is not slowing down as it is hiring a lot of AI experts from Google to take the technology to new heights.
Apple hires dozens of AI experts from Google to take the technology to the next level
Apple has poached dozens of AI experts from Google and other companies to create a hidden team in Zurich (via Financial Times). The new team will be responsible for building new AI products and services, which will be found in future iterations of iOS. To be precise, Apple has sourced 36 experts from Google since 2018. The company is very secretive about its approach, and it has been acquiring startups like FaceShift and Fashwell, which are part of its secret lab in Switzerland called "Vision City."
According to the source, Apple's team in the region is working on the underlying technology that powers the ChatGPT chatbot and other products. The entire purpose of the new technology will be to cater to text and visual inputs for a proper response. The idea is pretty similar to ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The report mentions that Apple's work on large language models will automatically have an impact on its work to make Siri smarter.
The company has long been aware of the potential of "neural networks" — a form of AI inspired by the way neurons interact in the human brain and a technology that underpins breakthrough products such as ChatGPT.
Chuck Wooters, an expert in conversational AI and LLMs who joined Apple in December 2013 and worked on Siri for almost two years, said: "During the time that I was there, one of the pushes that was happening in the Siri group was to move to a neural architecture for speech recognition. Even back then, before large language models took off, they were huge advocates of neural networks."
Apple acquired Perceptual Machines in 2016, which was founded by Ruslan Salakhutdinov. Salakhutdinov states that Apple's late entry into the AI game was due to language models producing problematic answers with invalid information. He stated that the company is being careful with the technology so as not to release a technology that it can not control.
Apple is slowly but steadily making progress, and we will see the by-product of the company's efforts at its WWDC 2024 event. iOS 18 will be the company's biggest update for the iPhone and AI will have a major role to play on a system level. The technology would gradually pick up pace as soon as Apple steps into the industry.
About the author: Ali Salman is a technology reporter for Wccftech mobile section with a specialized focus on Apple and the intellectual property that drives mobile innovation. He has cultivated a unique expertise in analyzing and deconstructing complex technology patents, translating dense legal and technical documents into clear, insightful reports on future products.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
