(Photo: AP/Andy Wong)
Apple’s annual developer conference, to be held Monday afternoon, is expected to launch the company into the race for generative artificial intelligence (AI), marking its late arrival in a field that is expected to be as revolutionary as invention of the iPhone.
The highly anticipated unveiling of the AI, which will be integrated into the iPhone and other Apple products, will be the highlight of an event that traditionally previews the next version of the software that powers Apple’s hardware lineup. the company.
Apple’s next generation of software is expected to come with a range of AI features that could make its virtual assistant Siri smarter, and make photos, music, texting – and perhaps even creating emojis – more productive and entertaining.
True to its secretive nature, Apple has not provided any details ahead of Monday’s event, which will be held at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Chairman and CEO Tim Cook recently hinted that Apple was close to revealing its big plans to enter the artificial intelligence race.
The AI craze is the main reason why Nvidia, a maker of chips used in this technology, has seen its stock value soar from around US$300 billion at the end of 2022 to US$3 trillion. Nvidia briefly overtook Apple last week as the second company with the highest market capitalization in the United States. Earlier this year, Microsoft also eclipsed the iPhone maker with its push into AI.
Analysts are increasingly concerned that Apple is falling too far behind in the rapidly evolving field of AI, a concern that has been compounded by an unusually prolonged decline in the company’s sales.
Google and Samsung have already released smartphone models featuring AI features as their main attractions.
That’s why analysts such as Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives view Monday’s conference as a springboard that could propel Apple into a new phase of robust growth.
Dan Ives estimates that the company’s market value could increase by US$450 billion to US$600 billion.
Monday’s conference “represents the most important event for Apple in more than a decade, as the pressure to bring generative AI technology to developers and consumers is at the forefront,” Dan Ives wrote in a note of research.
