Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today reported that Apple is not planning to debut its own generative AI chatbot with its next major software updates, including iOS 18 for the iPhone. Instead, he reiterated that Apple has held discussions with companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Baidu about potential generative AI partnerships.
Recent reports indicated that Apple has considered licensing existing chatbots, such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT, but Apple offering its own chatbot of some kind on iOS 18 had not been explicitly ruled out until now.
Gurman still expects AI to be a major focus at Apple's just-announced WWDC 2024 developers conference. He reiterated that Apple plans to announce new AI features that "assist users in their daily lives," but he did not provide any specific details. He has previously reported that generative AI will improve Siri's ability to answer more complex questions, and allow the Messages app to auto-complete sentences. Other apps like Apple Music, Shortcuts, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are also expected to gain generative AI functionality.
Apple already promised that the company would share generative AI announcements later this year, and the company hinted at it again today. WWDC 2024 runs from June 10 through June 14, with video sessions to be shared on YouTube for the first time.
The first iOS 18 beta should be made available to developers following the WWDC keynote, and the update is expected to be released to all users in September.
