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Apple CEO Tim Cook Hints at AI Announcement ‘Later This Year’
Apple may have an AI-related announcement later this year according to remarks made by the company’s CEO Tim Cook. This was during a call with analysts following the company’s fiscal Q1 earnings report on Thursday.
Cook stated that the company will continue to invest in technologies that will shape the future.
“That includes artificial intelligence where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort, and we’re excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year,” he said refraining from giving more details about the tech titan’s AI plans. “Let me just say that I think there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with generative AI and with AI, without getting into many more details or getting out ahead of myself.”
This comes on the heels of reports that the next version of its iPhone software – iOS 18 – set to be announced later in the year, could be one of the operating system’s biggest updates yet.
Following the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon jumped on the generative AI bandwagon, beginning work on generative AI models. Just this week, Apple’s rival Samsung released its Galaxy S24 series featuring generative AI capabilities such as translation, transcription, and photo editing.
While Apple has yet to announce any work on a gen AI model, it has been using machine learning technology in its chips and software for features such as image recognition.
At its annual Worldwide Developer Conference last year, the company announced an iPhone keyboard upgrade that incorporated a transformer-based language model, similar to the technology behind GPT, for smarter autocorrection capabilities.
Meanwhile, Apple’s revenue and earnings beat analyst estimates despite a 13% decline in China, one of its most important markets. The company reported quarterly revenue of $119.6 billion, up 2% from the same period last year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.18, up 16% year-over-year.
Apple also reported a gross margin of nearly 46% for the December quarter, representing a continued upward trend. The company’s net income also increased by 13% year-over-year, reaching $33.92 billion.
The company’s number of active devices increased from 2 billion at the same time the previous year to 2.2 billion in 2023.
“We are pleased to announce that our installed base of active devices has now surpassed 2.2 billion, reaching an all-time high across all products and geographic segments […] We are committed as ever to the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation – in line with our values and on behalf of our customers,” Cook stated.
Further, Apple’s board of directors approved a $0.24 per share cash dividend, “payable on February 15, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 12, 2024.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook Hints at AI Announcement ‘Later This Year’
